A Tale of Transmigration
by CrashLegacy
Summary: For Taylor Hebert, death was just the beginning. Reincarnated into an alternate earth version of herself she awakens to find herself trapped in a very familiar locker. Now armed with knowledge of her previous life and the ability to not just control bugs but also manipulate their biology, Taylor sets off to do what she always wanted to: be a superhero. Spoilers abound; sorry.
1. Chapter 1: Reparation

**A Tale of Transmigration**

**A Worm Fanfiction**

For Taylor Herbert, death was just the beginning. Reincarnated into an alternate earth version of herself she awakens to find herself trapped in a very familiar locker. Spoilers abound; sorry.

* * *

-/** Chapter 1: Reparation **/-

I barely had heard the report announcing the first bullet before my mind rebelled. I toppled. The second caught me before I hit the ground, silencing the formative tendrils of pain.

Blackness. I blinked. My breath was ragged. Something stunk. Correction, everything stunk, everywhere. I tried to move, my elbows and the backs of my hands stung. I hit metal in every direction except forward, the source of the foulness. My legs, rear, back, and neck ached. I've been in this position to long. I tried to raise my head from its stooped position. Something wet and nasty clung to my cheek, I pulled it off as my head banged into the ceiling of my own private hell. I knew where I was now. I screamed, my voice nearly gone.

I cried out as I struggled. The stinging sensation grew. The logical part of my mind told me to stop; I didn't listen. I didn't listen to it guaranteeing me that my hands were bleeding. I didn't listen to that voice telling me if I continued to thrash that the…crud would get in the hurt. That it would fester and infect. I thrashed anyway. I screamed despite being hoarse. It wasn't just a matter of being in the locker again, reliving that experience. Everything from the last few days came tumbling down on me.

_"Because I think you have a chance to come back from this," _Contessa's words felt so damn hollow right now. The things I did. The things I remember doing as I unraveled, they were evil on a level I didn't want to comprehend. I was a monster.

Tiny sparks of life answered my now silent cries. Every insect within the school, no larger than that; every arthropod within a vast area my mind was in no shape to guess the size of reacted to me. They were converging. Now the logical side of my mind was screaming too, countermanding the subconscious call to arms. In my desperate thrashing I slammed my head against the locker's low ceiling with enough force it made me see stars. Then blackness consumed me once more. I welcomed the reprieve.

* * *

Fluorescent lights cut through the safe darkness of unconsciousness. I blinked first trying to get rid of the light so I could slip back into the safety of night. After I realized it was useless, the blinking was to clear my eyes. A ceiling greeted them. I felt a wave of annoyance that I could tell just from the ceiling that I was in a hospital. What did that say about me?

The door creaked open and a nurse entered. She crossed that invisible line at sixteen feet from me and kept moving as if…wait what? I actively focused on my power, my perspective slipped away as I felt the simple minds of every arthropod with four blocks of me. I didn't sense the nurse; confusion swept over me like a wave upon the shore.

"Need anything?" the woman asked me.  
I ignored her for a moment as I sought out any indication of my biggest regret. Nothing, it was like my power hadn't ever changed. I was in a hospital. My last memory was of the locker. THE locker.  
"A newspaper, today's preferably," I replied, my voice hoarse. I needed to figure this out. This sort of thing made no sense. Before the locker was my 'conversation' with Contessa. Before that? Scion, the battle to survive; my fall. And beyond that? My memory was fading like a fleeting dream. But it felt too real. Even as they disappeared in a hazy mist they were too fresh to say they didn't happen.  
"- you want the news, there's the TV in the corner," the nurse replied unaware I wasn't paying her much mind.  
"I'd rather the paper," I asserted trying to sound neither rude nor pretentious. She seemed to accept the words at face value and with a little noise of affirmation turned and headed out the room. I tried again in some morbid fascination to assert control over her. Nothing happened she simply kept going closing the door on her way out.

That was fine. If I was some how back before everything I definitely didn't want to have that power, especially given what it cost to have it. I turned my attention back to my bugs.

Four block radius, if I was guessing I'd say twelve hundred feet. That was a little better then I was use to I think. There were somewhere about thirty thousand creepy crawlies within my range and under my control, I could have gotten a more accurate count but didn't feel like it. I let most of them go about their business unmolested. The others, the ones in and immediately around the hospital were my focus. There was a spider in my room, I focused on it specifically.

I opened myself to all of its senses. Its sight was blurry and oddly distorted, colors were off. I felt a vibration along its web as it carefully crossed from one side to the other. Its hearing was a jumble of tiny noises probably beyond the human hearing range. It wasn't just the senses I gathered from it though. I recognized the bug like an anthropologist might; not by its scientific name, but I had an intrinsic knowledge of every molecule, every atom, that made up its very being. I could sense it was bored, sleepy even, and hungry.

I had already ordered a small collection of houseflies thought the building to attach themselves to everyone in an as innocuous manner as possible. Some hid in the cuffs of pants, the folds of pleats, under folded collars, while others blatantly landed on the hands of sleeping patients, still others found elbows, shoes and so forth. I was actively 'piloting' each when I pulled another few flies into a flying wedge formation and sent them towards my room like some sort of fighter squadron. Flight of the Valkyries echoed in my head from memory; it was one of the hardest songs I knew how to play back when I had mom's flute.

As they neared the nurses' station it occurred to me I was navigating the halls with only this group's sight. Somewhere along the way I had made a hell of a leap in translating swarm sight into something I could use. I couldn't remember ever actually being able to effectively use the sight of bugs.

"-and what does she ask for? Today's paper. I'm thinking there's a TV right there in the corner, remotes next to the bed. And you want a paper?" the nurse who had checked in on me said. I found myself interested in the fact that even as my brain was taking the vibrations in the air created by the woman's speech and converting it to language I was hearing the words through the houseflies' ears…well through their audio receptors. There was a good bit of distortion, I wasn't surprised since I was not only using many audio receptors to hear but they were turned to a different range of the wavelength then human hearing. Still combining the two methods of 'hearing' through the bugs meant I could understand more of the subtleties of human speech.  
"Maybe the kid likes to read," the other nurse, a slightly overweight older woman, replied as she passed her younger counterpart a rolled newspaper. I ignored the revelation that my swarm hearing was actually useable as I turned my flies' sight to the paper but wasn't able to actually make out anything more than indistinct shapes. Were houseflies nearsighted like me?  
"I don't know I don't remember liking to read that much in high school. And I sure as hell never read the paper," my nurse responded as I set my wedge of flies down on the ceiling across from my room ready to send them into my room and the cobwebs my friendly house spider had set up in the corner.

I was shifting my focus around the building trying to find something suitably interesting to occupy myself with. The odd biological familiarity of whatever bug I happened to focus on was somewhat distracting. It was distracting more because it was new, unusual. The basement had an unusually high number of cobweb spiders like my roommate, likely indicating no one came down there very often, on the third floor a few rooms ahead of me two PRT guys were visiting a friend laid up with a broken leg. From the bits of conversation I heard he'd been caught in a recent cape fight.

The paper thumped down in my lap with a simple, "There ya go, hot off the press."  
Was she trying to be funny? I gave her a weak smile for her effort and thanked her. She quickly turned on her heel and left the room. I didn't blame her; she might catch crazy if she stayed.

I almost missed Dad arriving. He was carrying a plastic shopping bag, which I quickly realized contained a change of clothes for me. My heart beat faster my mind trying to reconcile the man asking for his daughter's, asking for my, room number with the memory of him being dead. He was heading towards the elevator before I shook myself out of the stupor. I unfolded the news paper as I maneuvered a few bugs to the elevator he was heading towards. The bugs were a varied lot but my emphasis had been on ones I could see and hear with well enough.

The front page of January 3, 2011's issue of the Bay Chronicler was almost consumed by a color picture of a ruined white-grey mech that dwarfed everything but the buildings in the image. Defiant –no, Armsmaster was present in the image halberd held loosely in his hand as he looked on the wreckage looking like the repentant hero I knew him better as. Three other capes were visible in the image but I didn't immediately recognize them though they all seemed familiar. I also recognized the mech's design even without reading the headline 'White Knight Captured After Prolonged Battle.'

I felt a surge of confusion, I both remembered a cape operating under that name and didn't. The part that did was nodding as I read the article. White Knight was until a month ago a member of the local Protectorate in good standing known for his chivalrous attitude and polite demeanor. He was the Bay's premier tinker, after Armsmaster of course, known for the construction of vehicles, mechs, powered armor, and gravity based technology. Every time a member of Protectorate or Wards cuffed some punk and left them floating around a few feet of the ground they were employing his technology.

He went off the deep end sometime in December when his wife and fellow teammate was killed by a villain while in her civilian identity. He avenged his wife by murdering said villain less then a week later in broad daylight and went Antihero. Over the course of the following three weeks he killed eight capes, one of which was a solo hero that tried to stop him.

The elevator door closed and the metal box containing Dad started heading to the fourth floor. I arrayed my bugs about getting a good look at him. I could tell he was angry; his mouth was pressed together in a thin line that only showed up when he was trying desperately to suppress his emotions. Despite that he looked younger and happier then I remember, then again based on the newspaper there was a time difference between the last time I saw him and now of about two and half years. And not two and a half years since I saw him, that suggested I'd last saw him in 2008; no last time I saw dad was 2013. I was some sort of time traveler. Or maybe no matter how familiar the memories and powers were I had managed to dream it all. It did have a nightmarish ending, that's for sure.

Dad left the elevator about the same time my roommate finished cocooning the last of the flies in its web. He didn't stop at the nurse station and was a few doors down when one of the people I had tagged with a fly stopped him with a question. With all the bugs around I recognized the voice of my principal. Another member of Winslow High's Faculty, one whose name I couldn't place back up the principle.

Words were exchanged; Dad tried to ignore them even as his anger festered. I knew from last time, he'd explode. He wanted to see his daughter damn it, make sure she was okay and these two where keeping him from his goal. I wasn't my dad and it was frustrating for me.

"-not to mention she assaulted two members of our faculty. Coach Brains could sue, she nearly shattered his knee; the same one that he injured and took him out of the league."  
"Are you freaking kidding me?" Dad exploded as I screamed in my mind. I seethed with the same anger Dad was venting in a triage echoing almost every one of my thoughts. He didn't know how long the bullying had been going on so there were discrepancies between our exact wording but It was still a bit surprising just how similar our thoughts were. A moment of fear spiked through me as a dark thought crossed my mind. I checked how far dad was from me, way more than sixteen feet. I sighed in relief. We were just like minded; I wasn't in his head.  
The older nurse at the station moved towards them at a decent clip, I had pegged her as somewhat overweight. I was reassessing her given the way she moved, she was more big boned and less body fat. And she knew how to handle herself, not surprising since this floor was for psychiatric patents. She all but shouted at them killing the argument in its tracks. The woman didn't give them a chance to recover from the interruption. "You two out," she ordered jamming her finger into my principal's chest, "he has a reason to be here. You don't, get out now before I throw you both down the stairs."  
"Go see your daughter, two doors down on the left," she ordered Dad. He obeyed as he took a deep calming breath.

The door creaked open, as soon as he was inside I ordered all but one fly off his person and out the bag he carried. He didn't notice. What he did notice was me dressed in a hospital gown and giving him an amused smile.

"You alright kiddo?"  
"Yeah. 'Specially now, hearing you defend me helped a lot."  
Dad made a face. He obviously didn't like that I heard him blowing up on someone like that. He shouldn't be ashamed, that anger had been perfectly justifiable, "Dad, you were pretty much echoing my thoughts. I don't even remember hitting anyone."  
"Do you…" he paused, "Want to talk about it?"  
"Maybe after I get dressed, everything was ruined."  
"They told me," he dropped the Walmart bag on the edge of the bed and gave me ample room to get out.

We made idle chitchat through the bathroom door while I changed. I took the opportunity to look at myself in the mirror. I had been cleaned up, if I remember correctly, by the older nurse, so there was none of the …refuse that had stuck to me while in the locker present. Even my hair had been washed. I'd have to thank her for that. The thing I noticed however was my body wasn't what I remembered it being like at fifteen. I had all the lean muscle that I had developed over the years during my costumed escapades. How the hell had that happened? Before I could speculate on it being related in some odd way to my…rebirth…resurrection…reincarnation, my mind called up memories of doing morning runs since mom died; it was how I coped. I trained. At summer camp I was one of the fastest girls, and surprisingly agile.

My chest was also larger; according to the bra in my bag, I was a full cup size larger then I remembered being at this age. Hell, I wasn't even this well endowed when I died…that confused me since my mind couldn't fish out any memories to fill in the blanks; it was just there. There were other little things that were different, an extra scar on my left bicep that I got falling off an obstacle at summer camp, my hair was little longer. Things like that. These changes made me more prepared for my powers, along with my previous knowledge of my capabilities I could go out in costume sooner, as soon as I remade my costume that is. And I knew I would go out in costume again, there wasn't any doubt about it; I couldn't see myself as a rogue.

I pulled the hoody on and zipped it up half way, enough to keep me warm, but enough to show off the color of my shirt; an orange-ish yellow not far removed from gold. I exited the restroom. Dad was looking at the news paper, reading the article on the White Knight's capture.

"The union will get to clean the mess up right?" I asked recalling him telling me about how his people did more reconstruction work then anything nowadays.  
"Yeah, best part about all the capes in town, there's always repair work that needs to be done and the union gets first dibs."  
"Do you know if I need to stay for observation, or can we go get something to eat that's not made in the local cafeteria?" I asked my stomach growling.  
"Let's find out."

* * *

Despite the attending doctor's objections and requests to keep me overnight we checked out and made our way to the Burger King a block south of the hospital. The Whopper Jr. I had was the best burger ever made. We had barely spoken on the walk here, and once here I told him I'd not talk till he was done eating. I remembered the last time I told someone about my trigger event when they were eating.

The quite gave me time to order my thoughts and plan what I'd do for the next few days; the doctor's excuse gave me three days grace between checkout and returning to school. Dad had agreed to let me stay home as long as I need to get myself together. Considering I was discovering an extra fifteen years of memories that I hadn't had before my last encounter with Contessa and the events that lead me to where I was, I was glad for the chance to decompress and make sense of everything. Or at least begin to.

Explaining what had happen had been difficult, I had two memories of the locker incident, they didn't entirely match. Further I refrained from telling Dad I triggered and seeing his lips draw into an angry line made me try to lighten the mood a little. It hadn't really worked out and I was reminded that I was horrible at the interpersonal skills that lent themselves easily to superhero banter and joking in general.  
"I don't want you taking this to the school...well no more than suing them. But no direct action against the girls."  
"Why? How can you forgive them for this, Taylor?"  
"I'm not forgiving, but I know anything short of expulsion won't help my situation. I get them suspended and they'll just have a three day break from school. I fight back or stand up to them they come back nastier. Escalating the matter won't help me. And if it comes down to you taking legal action against Emma and the others then you'll be dealing with Mr. Barnes. He'll be able to hurt us financially in court. I'm not happy about it by any means, but that's the way it is."  
"What would you like?"  
"I wish I could get transferred to Arcadia. Everyone there is polite to one another because they don't want to get on the wrong side of a Ward. Even beyond that the school is, well, good. I'd be able to learn more there."  
Dad mulled it over; I could see the thought process on his face. He wasn't angry anymore; the fact that the victim was willing to think though things logically had defused him. He stayed quite for almost half a minute before stating simply, "The school should pay."  
"I agree, at least the hospital bill. Sue them, I'm fine with that. Just don't name the girls," He nodded in agreement. The expression on his face seemed to covey he was beginning to understand that I was far more level-headed and mature about this then he'd have expected. It didn't surprise me; after all, I did have an extra life to grow up.

A sudden point of inspiration hit me and I knew I couldn't leave well enough alone, "Dad, how much do you want to hurt them?"  
"What?" My dad looked surprised at the sudden question for a moment before he started to examine his own mind, "A great deal. Probably more then I should. Why?"  
"I don't think Emma's dad knows what she's been doing to me."  
"And this is important why?"  
"Aren't you and Mr. Barnes pretty friendly?" A dark emotion shrouded his face before I added, "What do you think would happen if you asked him to help you sue the school for letting this …incident occur?"  
The grin dad gave me reminded me of a raptor from Jurassic Park, "But I don't tell him his daughter was involved in the incident or that this has been going on since last summer."  
I nodded as he continued, "In the least Alan would want to represent me in the suit and knowing how little money we have he'd do so at a drastically reduced rate. He may also try to identify the bullies involved which depending on whether or not Emma tells him the truth could lead to quite a few out comes I'd expect.  
"You don't want me directly drawing attention to the girls themselves but this sort of thing would be doable?"  
"I think so. If I knew it was triggered by that sort of thing I think I could take even escalation of their little bullying campaign. But I think it'd just as likely lead to Emma stopping the whole nonsense," Dad looked not happy about the situation, but far more agreeable then he had in my last life's memory. I had given him something to do, some way to feel like he was making a difference. I knew that at the end of the day the thing that hurt him the most was his inability to do something, anything, to improve a situation. If there was a just god behind the bestowal of powers then Dad would have triggered after we lost Mom. Life was only as fair as we made it.

* * *

The next morning I woke up in a cold sweat. My memories of my previous life, particularly those that occurred after my present time, were always muddled. I'd sometime get glimpses of them in greater clarity when something I saw, did, said, or heard triggered them but beyond that it was like chasing shadows. Memories of my current life before the locker were much, much clearer as if they begged me to pay more attention to them. The only time my past-future memories seemed to really surface with any consistency and detail was when I dreamed. At least that's what I figured since I just had a nightmare involving Scion.

That was another big difference between this life and the last. Scion never existed here. Capes still appeared, but had done so as early as the Twenties. They really came to the forefront during World War Two. We made contact with Earth Aleph in the early Sixties as tinker technology prematurely brought forth the digital age. I should clarify; Earth Aleph was not the same Earth Aleph from my previous life. It was clear enough in the fact everyone referred to our Earth as Earth Bet. I'm glad this me had paid attention in History because I didn't even want to think about the headache of learning an entire alternate history.

I slipped into my …slippers, shook my head at the lame pun and headed down to the kitchen. It was a few minutes before Dad would wake and head into the shower so I got the makings for breakfast out as I made a mental list of what I'd do today. Dad wanted me to stay home, get myself together, but I felt alright. Sure I still had to shift through my new memories of the past fifteen years of my life so as not to say or do something stupid, but yeah. I was mentally okay. I'd tell dad that I intended to go for a run and then stop by the library.

My cover was that I was going to look up what consulted as evidence of bullying and how much I'd need for an airtight case. That wasn't untrue. I was going to check Parahumans Online, my memories indicated that there was a lot more capes in Brockton Bay then I encountered last go around. I needed information to know who I could and couldn't engage when I started going out in costume again. Further I needed information on Shadow Stalker; was she already in the Wards? Was she still as overly aggressive or was she in good standing? I hoped she was just like I remembered her so I could nail her ass to the wall. I had decided that I'd take care of my bullying problem quickly. That would involve getting a hold of some surveillance gear, like wires and button cameras to gather evidence of the bullying that couldn't be refuted. I had a couple hundred dollars saved up from…something; my memories weren't cooperating on that front much to my annoyance.

I was going to do a large circuit on my run, far larger then usual to pick up as many black widows and heavy carapace bugs as I could, this time around I'd be using a larger number per shift to get my costume done sooner than I had the previous time around. I needed to learn more about ways to prepare chitin and was also going to hunt down information on different weaves I could use, the way I'd put my costume together would be just as important as the materials I made it out of.

Dad walked down stairs dabbing his hair dry as he opened the fridge and pulled the carton of orange juice out. I added two more things to my to-do list, make Dad a coat, and figure out what the hell was up with my powers. I had hugged him last night and I got a bit of a shock. Just like I had intrinsic knowledge of any arthropod's biology that rivaled or exceed that of an actual anthropologist, physical contact with my own father had told me everything about his biology. One thing I knew was that he need more vitamin C, hence the orange juice I had him pick up. We ate in relative silence after the chit chat that was me telling him what I'd do today. He wasn't exactly happy about me going for a run so soon after I had a psychotic break but I assured him I had the can of pepper spray he bought me.

* * *

I was midway though my run focusing on the swarm I had built up already. Primarily, I was pushing the less desirable bugs out to the fringes of my range where they would fall out of my control as I continued jogging; the more desirable ones on the other hand were called closer to me and if I happen to be moving too fast for them then I'd have fliers air lift them. Every now and then when I'd stop to catch my breath or because of an intersection I fed the pest bugs to my chosen swarm, particularly emphasizing the spiders that would be weaving my costume. I had a lot more bugs in my range then I'd actually take with me and be able to keep them relatively concealed. I planed to step into an ally near the library to have my chosen assortment pile into the empty knapsack on my back.

I was at one of these stops just northwest of the boardwalk when one of my bugs touched the telltale fabric of a costume. The man wearing the costume was racing towards another person whom as I directed a few bugs towards I belatedly realized was also a cape. I focused on my bugs nearby accessing their senses more fully. The costumed man I almost immediately recognized as Vigilant, one of the bay's Protectorate members that hadn't existed in my former life. He bobbed and weaved as his opponent fired energy beams that burned my bugs' eyes. I didn't recognize the other guy but could tell from the white beard alone that he was older then Vigilant.

Vigilant, or simply Vigil if you wanted to be less formal, was a mid-tier Alexandria-type. He had awesome strength but his durability was somewhat lacking in comparison. He was tougher then human but relied on a force field that he could shape to ward off attacks. If he got hit he had a minor level of regeneration; it was more 'fast healing' then the I-can-see-wounds-closing speeds that were typically associated with regeneration. And while he was a Mover, he didn't fly or teleport. Vigilant simply could move fast, running full out he was capable of breaking the sound barrier though such speed tired him quickly. Adding to his mobility was heightened reflexes and noteworthy skill in parkour.

His name however came from two of his secondary powers that helped distinguish him from the pack. First he was a precog; not a very powerful one, but he could do things like sense where the greatest threat was, in combat this translated to a danger sense that synergized well with his enhanced reflexes. The other ability was simply that he didn't need to sleep, ever. He joked in an interview it was only because of the latter he'd been able to graduate high school.

Against lasers that could shred his barrier and moved at or near the speed of light, however, Vigilant was at a distinct disadvantage. He performed evasive actions that wouldn't have been out of place in an anime or Spider-man movie as he tried to close in. The laser shooting cape however wasn't about to let him and was easily maintaining distance. Maybe Vigilant could wear out the older cape, or slip in during a break in the barrage, but I couldn't see it happening quickly and the longer he was blasting away with those lasers the more likely someone or something would get caught in the crossfire. So it shouldn't come as a shock when I decided to help. It was stupid, I didn't have a costume, but from where I stood I was over a block away from the action. I didn't need to be in the thick of things to assist. I gathered my swarm, everything in the block immediately around them, as I moved to get into a better position to keep up if the fight started moving again.

Laser-guy jumped across a gap between roofs and immediately returned to throwing volleys of lasers that reminded me of a less effective Legend. An air conditioning unit was perforated as my swarm formed into a more coherent mass. Vigilant caught two shots and lost the protection of his barrier as I finished my preparations. A swarm five thousand strong burst forth from between the alley that separated the two capes. Laser-guy unleashed a barrage at the swarm as he yelped in surprise killing almost a hundred. Vigilant's precognition allowed him to avoid any of the rays that headed his way as he took the opportunity to sprint across the gap, throwing in a tight flip as he crossed the alley way. I saw through the spiders still stationed in said alley that he gave the alley a once over while tucked in the flip. I was impressed.

The swarm formed into a human shape, complete with a pair of unsteady legs. I kept the majority of the swarm, however, buzzing around this form in a manner similar to what they did when I myself was at the center of the swarm. Laser-guy, despite being winded from the chase, immediately sprayed a volley of lasers into my decoy and I split it apart, he killed an easy fifty. The entire swarm surged forward before I reformed the decoy behind him, leaving some behind to harass him. A few wasps stung him.

"Surrender," I ordered, my words distorted as the swarm 'spoke' them. I spotted Vigilant reacting just before the bugs on Laser-guy warmed me of the impeding threat. Lasers fired off in numerous directions. Where my swarm clone was hit I had the remaining bugs spread out before recomposing the humanoid shape. It was the little things like that that served to draw attention and unnerve people.  
I split a small group off my swarm sent them to Vigilant as laser-guy ineffectively attacked my decoy. I had the swarm form cross its 'arms' and shake its 'head' even as I sealed the gaps left in its shape. When the group arrived at the speedster they spoke in a near whisper, "feel free to knock him out."

Vigilant chuckled as I scattered my swarm in the face of another heavy barrage and reformed it opposite Vigilant. This time I moved the form like it intended to charge and punch the laser slinger. He tried to turn and run but only ended up meeting Vigilant's fist as the speedster blurred to the other cape.

Laser-guy crumpled, knocked out by the attack, and Vigilant wasted no time in cuffing him as he asked, "What did you sting him with?"  
"Common wasps," my decoy responded. I didn't feel need to say what variety they were since in the bay only one type could keep a hive going through the winter.  
"You a new cape? Never saw a bug person before."  
"Sort of," I replied as my real body crossed the street heading back to my planned route, "I prefer to keep a bit low key."  
"I hear you; publicity can be dangerous at times. So villain?" he asked. I took a defensive posture crossing the swarm decoy's arms; his surprise was evident in his voice as he continued, "Hero? What do I call you, Swarm?"  
"Skitter," I announced having decided that I'd likely be delivering evidence of Shadow Stalker's continued misconduct to the PRT so I'd need a name. While Skitter did sound more villainous, Weaver could be misconstrued as 'story weaver' and from there 'liar.' I hadn't even considered naming myself Swarm, that was what I mentally called my bugs, it'd be too weird.  
"Well, I'd love to stay and chat but I've got a class starting in a few minutes. If I don't get going I'll be late if I'm not willing break the sound barrier getting there. One last question. The bugs; master, projection, or shifter form?"  
"Master. I'm over a block away already," I admitted.  
"Right see you around…sorta," and he immediately took off heading towards downtown leaving the anti-gravity handcuffs to hold the unconscious laser-guy until a PRT box could come collect him.

* * *

An hour later I was sitting at the library surfing the internet. I had already located a few books on sewing and weave patterns that once checked out served to shape my backpack, the rest of the room was literally filled with bugs. My encounter with laser-guy and Vigilant hadn't made the news yet except by way of the PO forums. Some posters had spotted the PRT van taking laser-guy away. I now knew he was Starlight, a usually solo villain that sometimes operated as a mercenary. About the only thing the guy had going for him was the fact that his lasers were actually as powerful as Legend's, though not as versatile so he was capable of wounding Endbringers and had been one of the battery-types known for participating in Endbringer fights since the he first showed up in the 70s. He was also well known for pulling his punches, the output he generally used was enough to pierce flesh but not damage bone or more heat hesitant materials. During the battle earlier the total property damage boiled down to the air-conditioning unit he blasted and a window he melted when driving away my swarm.

Vigilant had posted in the thread confirming his and another cape's presence citing my assistance in subduing the villain. He made a point of stating that he was not at liberty to discus either the cape that assisted him or the battle itself until he was cleared to do so by his superiors. I was glad to have helped the guy out, everything I saw about him online suggested that he was one of those capes that was both well-known and well-liked by the public and a real stand up kind of guy.

I also learned that Sophia, Shadow Stalker, was pretty much the same as I remembered her. If anything she was more vicious. She had a bit of a following on the forums for it too, I wondered if she knew. There were good many pictures of her in costume with fanatics breaking down the components of her outfit. The main difference I noticed was her costume featured a modified black hockey mask instead of the mask of a stern woman's face I was more familiar with; which meant she hadn't been a probationary member of the Wards for very long.

Next I checked various sites detailing surveillance gear. Another point of deviation from my previous life was the technology level. With Parahumans showing up forty to sixty years earlier, tinker tech had more time to filter into reproducible low-maintenance forms for consumers. I spent less time checking out things then I intended as the kind of stuff I wanted was pretty cheap nowadays, only problem of course was finding a place that would sell them to a fifteen-year-old. I found a place locally that looked like it would do and went on to my next research topic.

State anti-bullying laws were pretty much inadequate. Bulling was defined, mostly, in the law; but only really protected against bullying based on sexual orientation or identification. After visiting several anti-bullying sites I found myself more depressed by the prospect of dealing with this issue. Knowing that my opposition included Shadow Stalker meant I couldn't physically retaliate, and trying to go through the staff would result in them turning a blind eye like they had the previous go around. The legal options, suing the bulling student's families for harassment or the school for failure to adequately supervise would see dad and Mr. Barns locking horns in a battle our family couldn't possibly win. Even with evidence of the events, like damaged clothing and possessions, or even audio/video recordings of incidents of bullying I was not guaranteed a positive outcome.

My earlier assumption that I'd have to take things directly to the PRT in regards to Shadow Stalker was reinforced. If I could get her out the picture Emma and Madison would be more vulnerable to other tactics, if they weren't collateral to begin with. I remember learning somewhere that Director Piggot wasn't overly fond of capes in general. The question was how likely it would be that Piggot act on my behalf. I spent a few seconds considering it before I realized I already knew someone could likely answer my question. I switched my browser tab to the PO forums. I had made an account when I first accessed the forums today. A double click later I started typing.

**To**: Vigilant  
**From**: Arthropod Lovers Anonymous  
**Subject**: Skitter has a question  
Hi. Met earlier today fighting Starlight. I need to how trustworthy Director Piggot is. How much she believes in serving justice and upholding the law? Everything I've seen or read about you suggests I'll get an honest response.

I sent it off and went to start researching my final topic. While I still intended to run every day like I had been one thing I knew from experience was that I ended up in close combat a lot. I needed more hand-to hand training.

I was getting annoyed at the number of schools mainly focused on teaching Kung Fu, Taekwondo, and Karate -or at least 'Americanized' bastardizations of those martial arts- with an over-emphasis on forms and sport competition techniques. None of them seemed to even attempt to take into account the problems associated with an encounter with a parahuman. Superhuman strength would shatter bone against any block that didn't redirect the attack; on the other end unyielding defenses would cause damage to the hands when executing strength-heavy straight attacks. They were living in a bubble that could be potentially dangerous to anyone who went to them to learn self-defense.

Right as my frustration was peaking an alert popped up indicating that there was a private message for me at my PO inbox. I switched over. Waiting for me was an invite to a chat room from Vigilant. I accepted.

Arthropod Lovers Anonymous (ALA): has joined the chat room.  
**ALA**: We alone?  
**Vigil**: Yeah, private chat room only us two here. Nice username. Why are you asking about piggy?  
**ALA**: Piggy? I need to know if she's more devoted to her own people or the law.  
**Vigil**: She cares about her people especially the wards, even if she doesn't generally show it. But it sounds like you're talking about someone being corrupt.  
**ALA**: In a manner of speaking. If she has evidence of an abuse of position and/or corruption what would she do?  
**Vigil**: If it's a cape, especially one on her shit list and not in good standing, she'd make an example of them. A normal human or a cape that's too important wouldn't be thrown to the (media) sharks. Tell me what's going on, I can help.  
**ALA**: Can't. Well, I could use her e-mail or phone number. Phone number preferably. I want to avoid dealing with anyone but her with this.  
**Vigil**: Her e-mail is public knowledge it's on the local PRT branch website. It's….  
**Vigil**: EPiggot  
**ALA**: Thanks. That'll do. …did you need anything from me for your report about the incident earlier?  
**Vigil**: Haven't filed one, still at school. Though I was wondering how you knew the fight was happening.  
**ALA**: A dragonfly told me. I'm not entirely lying there either.  
**Vigil**: Okay….  
**ALA**: I have access to any bug's senses I can control. A dragonfly landed on your costume. I investigated.  
**Vigil**: Wow. Recon specialist?  
**ALA**: Never really considered myself one. There are serious limitations when it comes to using bug senses. Primarily that they don't translate well. I had to get more bugs in the area whose vision was more closely related to our own to be able to ID you.  
**Vigil**: I kinda get what you're saying; still it sounds like you could be one hell of a recon specialist if you were looking to join a group.  
**ALA**: don't bother pitching the Wards/Protectorate to me yet.  
**Vigil**: Yet?  
**ALA**: Yet. My time's up. Got to go.  
**Vigil**: K Stay in touch.

I signed out of the chat room, then Parahumans Online proper. I wrote down a few notes as I close tab after tab out. My 'time' being up wasn't entirely a lie, I spent a good deal of time here it was after lunch. If I was going to pick up any of the things I needed and finish the full length of my run I needed to get going soon.

* * *

I got home around three and my dad wouldn't be home for another few hours. That gave me time to work out the fact that I'd screwed up and brought a fairly large population of black widows home with me. I'd forgotten to disperse them over the parks near my routes. I'd have to do it tomorrow. I let the bugs out of my backpack feeling a wave of relief from them as they departed. Well, it wasn't really relief it was more just a drop in their level of agitation. The other spiders and bugs I picked up during my run caught up filtering through the neighborhood before finding every opening in the house to make their way inside.

I blamed this oversight on my bullies; I had been distracted during my return trip with planning my next move. I needed get evidence of Sophia bullying people to turn into Piggot. In the best case scenario I'd encounter Shadow Stalker and tail her long enough to get a shot of her using her favored brutal tactics and preferably lethal ammunition. I wished I could just follow Grue and wait for when he'd be shot by her. I remember the Undersiders telling me about the incident, but it was more about the aftermath then the circumstances. And it wasn't like I could just go over and ask Brian for clarification, they didn't know me which was in many ways very depressing.

My shopping spree was largely spent on surveillance devices, particularly a pair of 'spyglasses' which were little more than tricked out eyeglass legs that could be fitted to my own glasses' frame. One leg featured a mic the other a micro camera. Each had ample memory storage, battery life, and a well-concealed on/off button and micro USB plug. The rest of my money went towards supplies for my costume, specifically goggles, a set of mics and camera and a very cheap cell phone that would serve more as a hard drive for the devices. For the electronic work I was planning I was going off of information gleamed from the internet, not exactly how I'd like to do it but with what little money I had I'd have to make due.

Like anywhere there were some bugs already infesting my house, most of them having moved in to overwinter. None of them, however, were really the types I found useful so I set my swarm upon them to fatten up the ones I did. While the swarm flowed through the walls of my home some encountered a hairy… a mouse. I added it as another target and spread the majority of my swarm out across the house to find anymore rodents. It didn't take long and soon a small colony of the dead animals that had likely moved in during the winter was carted into the basement by my helpers.

While I had the majority of the swarm combing my home I organized my widow collection into three groups. Breeding was the first thing on the agenda, shortly after that they'd all start weaving different portions of my costume. The mask and gloves were pretty much the bare minimum I'd wear as a costume; until at least they were complete I wasn't going to use my powers in public. Even then the mask and gloves combination were going to be more of an 'emergency costume' then anything. It had been stupid to get involved today; while I was safe given my distance from the encounter there was always the possibility I'd be identified because of some innocuous thing I did. I didn't intend to make another public appearance again until I had a proper costume put together and that was going to take some time. I needed to cool my heels.

The heavy carapace bugs that would in the future donate their shells to make the armor panels for my costume largely consisted of various beetles. I had a larger number of them then I could reasonably hide here. I could manage the black widows I had found during my run, but the beetles would be a problem with them numbering in the middle hundreds. I hadn't realized how many I picked up. Some would stay in the house to be devoured by the spiders along with the dead rodents, the rest of my swarm I need to get out the house. Luckily I had a temporary solution.

As I headed upstairs to get one of my empty journals to start making notes I began guiding the mass of bugs out the house. By the time I was starting to transfer the notes I had made in the library earlier that day my swarm had covertly reached the only derelict within range of my house. Oddly enough it was another point of divergence, the house in my past life was occupied by the Grovers; one of the few black families in this subdivision but never the less good people. I recalled that one of the family's children had been seriously injured during Shatterbird's 'performance.' This life's memory indicated rumors that the family had been driven out by Empire Eighty-Eight. While the derelict house would serve to be a good place nearby to stow my bugs part of me burned with anger at the small injustices of the world.

By the time the last of the bugs had safely slipped into the Grovers' house I was about done writing in my journal, well journals. I detailed the locker incident in my 'incident journal' that would go towards the evidence of the ongoing bullying campaign. My 'hero journal' on the other hand now included design sketches pertaining to my costume as well as some preliminary ideas on adjustments I wanted to make to my costume over the original. I was going straight for the edgier, sharper chitin plating I had adopted after taking control of Brockton Bay not just for the look either, one of the library books I had collected detailed chitin hardening techniques used in the past. Hardened platting with sharp edges meant any striking I did with the protected section would be focusing the strike's force on a smaller surface area.

My measurements were easier then ever to obtain, when I cracked my neck I learned that my new power wasn't blocked by the Manton effect. In that simple skin to skin contact I knew more about my body then any doctor could, I was able to recite things like my measurements, body fat index, and past injuries. I had broken my left leg sometime in the past…that was new. This new capability was nice but it was also worrisome; after all from my frame of mind only a day or so had passed since I was controlling a massive force of parahumans. I didn't want to become that… monster again. I brought some beetles upstairs, both to spread out the population in the house a little and to give me something to do after Dad got back. I needed them on hand to test a hypothesis regarding this new aspect of my power.

* * *

I was still considering the implications of these new additions to my parahuman arsenal when I heard the front door creak open. Dad never used the backdoor; it was almost like he wanted to skip over the rotted-out bottom step in front our house. I could hear him easily though the thin walls of the house as he shuffled through his end of day routine. I had just glanced at the clock when Dad called up, "Taylor?"  
"I'm here," I set my hero journal down on some beetles left on the floor and they shuffled themselves and their burden under my bed as I left my room. When I got downstairs Dad was checking the fridge to figure out what we'd do for dinner. It wasn't likely to be a case of lack of options, but a larger then average amount, we had stopped by a grocery store on the way home to by some soft foods incase I had trouble keeping things down. I thankfully wasn't.  
"You weren't here when I called earlier. Did you spend the day at the library?"  
"Yeah. Most of it; got home a few hours ago." I leaned against the wall as I tried to figure out what to say next. Dad began preparing dinner as I mulled things over and I couldn't help but notice that he was more at ease with me then my previous life's version had been. But that was understandable, I told him sooner about my bullying problem, given him a way to help, and he hadn't seen me kill a person right in front of him with my power. I'd have to come clean about triggering sooner rather then later as well, but not today.  
I related what I learned we could do legal wise regarding the locker incident and the bullying beforehand. I of course kept the fact that I'd be working around the problems our particular circumstances presented; it would raise too many questions I was uncomfortable answering yet.  
"I'm thinking I might take some self-defense courses," I stated as I helped out by getting down the bowls and utensils for dinner.  
"Oh Taylor. You're no thinking of-"  
"Not fighting them. No. I was thinking about my runs and you always being concerned when I was out."  
He nodded, I could only see him in profile but his expression seemed to suggest he was coming around to the idea.  
"More than that, it'll help with the bullying indirectly."  
"Indirectly?"  
"You know, all those Karate Kid shows and such that talk about the spirit of martial arts. Boosting self confidence, morale, respect, discipline, ect, ect. It'll help me endure," I explained knowing full well that I actually wanted to learn to be able to fight better. My survival as a cape might depend on it.  
"That sounds good," Dad said, "You've already looked at local schools? Dōjōs?"  
I shrugged, "I looked online. Tomorrow I was thinking of visiting some of the better sounding ones in person."

* * *

Dinner went by in companionable silence and before long I found myself back in my room after a shower. Dad was downstairs watching the evening news or rather flipping between it and a football game on another channel. I called some bugs to me to test my theory. If I could already detect everything about a particular bug through the swarm sense, but could only discern a human's physiology by touching them then it was reasonable to assume that actually touching a bug would either give me access to another facet of this new power or more information.

I prodded a particularly healthy specimen of the group in my room. I felt a 'hum' of my power but didn't see any noticeable results, in fact checking it before and after confirmed the only thing I managed to do to the beetle was annoy it. Feeling the same way I leaned back throwing my arms behind me to rest on. As my hands splayed out to better support my weight a finger bushed against another beetle. Like the previous I had a reminder of its individual characteristics. My passenger must have realized I didn't know what the hell I was doing because I felt my power hum again and this time I felt a difference.

With a spark of recognition I reached out and touched a beetle that had lost its right elytra, the hardened forewing that served to protect the actual flight wings. My power activated again and I watched as the elytra started to spontaneously regrow. As it happened I could sense that I was burning the beetle's fat stores for the material, in short order they ran dry and the beetle was left with a new elytra that was half as large as its other. Curious, without breaking contact with my 'patient' I touched the first beetle I had attempted to use my power on with my other hand. Its fat stores began burning to fuel my patient's rejuvenation.

Without really considering it I cracked open my window and let the three bugs I tested my power on fly out and search for food. After all I had just burnt most of their fat stores while dealing with the law of conservation of mass. It was about that time I realized that I just _healed_ a bug. I could heal bugs. But healing I knew was actually a beneficial side effect of more encompassing power. Capes who could reverse the flow of time on a target could heal an injured target if they could rewind the target to a point in time when it wasn't injured. I had noticed that a larger number of capes in this new Earth had powers that could be utilized to heal wounds. Brockton Bay had two, Panacea and Testament. The latter hadn't existed in my previous life to my knowledge and played up the whole knight angle a lot of armored capes seemed to enjoy. Both of their 'healing' powers centered on manipulating biology to induce rapid healing, like I was doing.

Crap. That was a big can of worms to open. I'll need help figuring it out and from memory I knew that Testament was in the Protectorate and served as both a front line combatant and combat medic. I distinctly remember seeing an image on his Parahuman Online's profile showing him regenerating Armsmaster's hand, which had been blown off by whatever villain they were fighting or something, while also taking and regenerating damage himself. I wondered if I could ask Vigilant to put me in contact with the hero. If not I'd have to find some way of contacting Panacea. Perhaps get input and training from both?

Another thing added to my to-do list for tomorrow.

* * *

-/ **Interlude 1: Vigilant**

I sped up, pouring on the speed, and then leapt. Below me four lanes of traffic flashed complete with grass median and a sign indicating that drivers were entering Brockton Bay's Augustus University grounds. AU was pretty much the closest thing to Preston and Harvard many would ever see; it was the top of the class of colleges right below those with the famous names everyone had heard used to say 'this character is super intelligent' in media.

I bled momentum by spreading my arms as if I was in freefall. I hit the roof of my target going just over 100 mph, that probably sounds fast to normal people but I was barely at a jog considering my top speed as I maneuvered across the roof building up speed again. This was the problem with the university in my opinion, while most buildings were the same general height the roads between them tended to be wide enough I had to get up some speed before jumping them. I wasn't putting my strength into it, just moving my legs fast, if I was recorded and slowed down I'd still look like I was running. Compare that to how I moved while approaching Mach 1 and well that was more the odd long strides that look all kinds of awkward. Most Alexandria types knew that stride as the 'runway' since they usually used it to slow down after landing or get some speed before taking off. I couldn't fly. Not that I was complaining, most Alexandria types couldn't hit mach 1 for any length of time, I could hold it for five minutes before tiring myself out so much I wouldn't be able to slow down without tripping. Not that I'd use that kind of speed in the city; the first time I did I lost an arm, broke a few bones, buildings, cars, and a lot of windows…because I tripped on a curb.

I mantled over a ventilation duct and leapt almost as soon as my feet touched the ground. The momentary delay was to extend my barrier to the surface of the roof to prevent from collapsing it as I took off. I was now outside school grounds; half the length of the city to go before I got home and dinner. Dinner. Wonder what Mom had cooked tonight.

I was landing, again extending my barrier to the surface I was touching down on to prevent damage to it, when my mind screamed. The vision came hard and fast, the latter being a case of my mind always working fast. My perception slowed down as I drastically reduced speed, the two was laterally tied together; the faster I moved the faster I processed my surroundings. It allowed me to operate normally when moving at relatively human speeds instead of being trapped in a perpetual world of slow motion. I was immensely thankful for of that.

I pulled out my phone, tapped the screen, slid the little button on the bar to unlock it, and input my pass code…twice. The first time was too fast and missed the third digit's input. A tap later my phone connected to protectorate HQ, "Control, Vigilant."  
"Anything going on?" Miss Militia asked. She seemed to be perpetually on call like I was, but then again we both didn't need sleep. So it did make a good deal of sense in that regard.  
"A disturbance on the west end of University. Jamison Street near the north edge of University. A mugging I think," I belted off as I paced around in a circle.  
"You're the closest," I started running in that direction as she continued her voice slowing down before my helmet noticed my speed and compensated speeding up the audio playback, "Assault and Battery are on patrol heading into the Docks."  
"Right. Okay."  
"Back up?"  
"Not worth getting out of bed, only felt one perp," I answered as I angled towards an ally that would allow me to easily skip from building to building.  
"Remember your visions aren't infallible," Miss Militia reminded me uselessly. My 'visions' weren't really visions; I got a sense of where trouble was going to occur and the level of danger involved. A mugging was pretty much a non threat to me, so it was an 'off-white' feeling. I got 'pitch black' feelings a few minutes before Endbringers showed up. Usually. The first black I had gotten was when my mom found my costume. I still got a kick out of that five years later. My mom, a normal human, on the warpath was the same threat level as an Endbringer.  
"I know," I replied jumping from a rooftop, extending my barrier to the wall next to me and wall running across the back of a high rise that was notably larger then its neighbors. I saw the reflection of my golden, almost hoplite-style barbute complete with a plume ridge. I bounded off the wall, bounced off the corner of a rooftop, and crouched down arresting my momentum by transmitting the energy through the building around me.

I let my consciousness tug on the recent vision and it came back to the forefront of my mind's eye. I reoriented myself and took of at a much slower clip. With my precog sense taking up most of awareness I guided myself towards the scene of the soon-to-be crime. I knew the event hadn't happened yet, but it was always hard to judge how much time was left until it did. I preferred to get there before hand and let my helmet-cam record the initiation of the crime after I got in trouble for preemptively stopping crimes a few times; by trouble I mean sued several times by the would-be perps.

I spotted a woman cutting though an alley way. Fairly attractive uphill type garbed in expensive looking clothing. I tabbed my helmets optics. A limited X-ray like vision activated turning the woman into a skeleton decorated with ghostly jewelry on her neck, ears, wrist and ring finger. The rest of her was only the most basic phantom indications of flesh, clothing, and her purse. I focused on the purse; cell phone, change purse with a fair amount of coins within, keys, a tube on the key ring. Pepper spray?

Still she easily fit the role of victim in the scenario. Another person appeared from a doorway that cut off my vision. He blocked her path and she stopped. As she started backing up the way she came, the man called out to her, "Shouldn't be out alone Miss Norton."  
I focused my vision on him, his right hand was jammed into what must have been his pocket it held a snub nosed revolver. I could see a watch and a chain around his neck. The woman kept backing up as she tried to decide how to handle this. It was obvious that this guy knew her, so she'd have to deal with him someway at sometime. I switched back to normal sight as he spoke again, "Were do you think you're going doll?"  
_"Was this guy serious?"_ His lines sounded like he'd been watching way too many gangster films. Still he was rapidly approaching the point where he'd be legally considered committing a crime. He quickly closed the distance his arm pulling the gun from his pocket, _"Go time."_

I sprang out of the crouch I had settled in, twisting in mid-air. I landed behind him facing my target without trying to cushion my drop so my heavy boots would make a notable sound. Miss Norton gasped in surprise her hand coming up over her mouth. The perp on the other hand whirled around his arm already extending to point his gun at my head. His eyes, a grey-blue, widened as he took in my gold and red costume even as he fired. His night vision was probably ruined from the muzzle flash in the dark alley so he didn't get to see the round literally ping off my helmet. He may have heard it.

"Drop the gun and surrender. You don't want me to punch you." I ordered. The gun lowered fractionally as the words crossed his mind. I could see the moment he decided to try to kill me. His face turned into a snarl he was close enough that there was no way he could miss and by lowering the gun he was aimed at an unarmored section of my chest. He fired repeatedly.

I knew where the shot would go before the primer was even ignited, with my super speed aided reflexes, a fair amount of flexibility, and good old fashion training I twisted out the way. The gun could drop my shield in three hits, my bodysuit could probably absorb the next and my inhuman toughness would likely mean the last bullet in his six-shooter would lodge in the dense muscle under it. But why let him get that far? He corrected his aim like a champ, firing again and again as I seemingly casually avoided the shots. His gun clicked empty just in time for me to notice Miss Norton had readied her pepper spray. She wanted to help? I'd let her.

He threw a sloppy pistol whip at me, I didn't even need powers to react in time, but it helped. I stepped to the outside, grabbed his wrist as I spun close towards his back, and grabbed him by the head in the process. I ended up completing the revolution having spun the creep so his face was directly facing his would-be victim. Miss Norton didn't hesitate to spray him full in the face. He screamed earning a grin from the pretty redhead. Redhead? Too bad she wore a wedding ring. I released the thug letting him sprawl on the tar covered alleyway, "You'd think he'd never been pepper sprayed before."  
"Probably hasn't," she replied naturally.  
"Mother fucking bi-" I kicked him in the side of the head silencing and knocking him out cold.

We chatted casually as I cuffed him. I signed an autograph and she handed me her business card. She was a defense attorney. She wasn't married. A widower, her husband died a year before in a Behemoth attack. I had fought in that battle. She offered dinner. I declined, not because of the helmet, the cheek guards could part and slide back to allow me to eat normally without revealing too much of my face. Rather it was because I'd likely eat way too much. My metabolism was crazy. It had to be to keep up with everything else. I gave her my card. I should have given Skitter my card.

The police arrived, not a bad response time. I signaled them when I was waiting for the thug to make his move. Less than ten minutes. With a cape already on scene they tended to be a lot slower in responding. Statements were given. I signed an autograph for one of the officer's children. I said my goodbyes and left.

Five minutes past seven. It got dark at twenty after six this time of year. I headed home. Brockton Bay is a traceur's paradise. I know a lot of capes who navigate by roof top hated the constant changes in building height, and in the more extreme cases downtown I totally agree. Rooftop routes can be very stop and go if you don't have a feel for the terrain, move through the path of least resistance, not the most. If anything the city rewards those who pay attention to it and learn its ins and outs.

The motions came naturally to me, vaulting over this, sliding under that, running along that wall, mantling that obstacle, rolling with it. Everything was as natural to me as running is to the average jogger. I'd been doing this since I was 14, when I put on my first mask I was already leaping, gripping, and flowing up buildings as naturally was water flows in a river. Okay maybe I wasn't that good at the time but my reflexes helped a good deal and I quickly picked it up.

It shouldn't be surprising then that I lean towards Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do's general principals and philosophy when it comes to… well a lot. I frequent more than a quarter of the local dōjōs learning techniques and so forth whenever I'm not in class, fighting crime…or eating. Granted that's not a large percentage of my time but it happens. Techniques I learn get used in combat; at least once I've got a good enough handle on it to not kill regular humans. If it's functional it gets added to the arsenal, if not it's discarded or I go back and try learning it again.

I gathered speed and launched myself high. A second later I was diving into my room though an open window, rolling with the momentum, and catching myself on the walls to either side of the doorway. My force field shimmered and collapsed back onto my body disappearing from sight. Helmet and gauntlets came off as I called through the apartment, "I'm home."

"Dinner's on the stove!" dad shouted back from the living room. We didn't have to worry about neighbors, the apartment was essentially the entire floor done in a penthouse style with a ridiculous amount of space between our floor and the next. Mom was a computer programmer, or rather head programmer for the company she worked for; Dad was a low ranked tinker who was particularly adept at making mass producible redesigns of other tinker's work. He was technically a rogue and his business practices involved a lot of legal hula-hoop jumping. Any redesigns he made were partially owned by both him and the original inventor. He avoided a lot of attention by only working on devices that were not immediately designed for causing harm, highly destructive, or so forth. A lot of the PRT's gear went through Dad's workshop for 'idiot-proofing,' standardizing, and all that other stuff.

He also made my costume after Mom threw a fit when she saw what I was going out in. It wasn't that I was risking my life to stop crime; it was that I was doing it in spandex and a modified prop that drove her up the wall.

Even with the kind of cash they raked in I made it a point to pay rent, just like I made a point of donating to charities and paying for my stuff myself. It wasn't me shoving how much money I made around or anything, I knew that with my power set I wasn't going to be able to retire without going insane. Just the visions would be enough; the fact that every time it happened my body instinctively readied itself for combat didn't help. Further between my durability and my speed I was pretty hard to stop, but when something finally did put me down it would be hard and without mercy. I resigned my self to the fact that I'd die relatively young a long time ago and decided to live for the day and make sure to leave the world better then I found it.

Dinner was hotdogs; I hadn't but glanced at it before I pulled another can of chili and pack of franks out to supplement it. We bought groceries in bulk because of my metabolism; not lying. I heated things up while I finished stripping out of the red and gold bodysuit that served as my costume and called out, "Dad, earlier my HUD flickered when some punk hit it with a .32. Loose connection?"  
"Probably," he commented as he moved into the kitchen. I was already fixing a line of hotdogs to make room in the pots for the next serving. Dad shook his head at the sight, "What happened to your field?"  
"I dropped it so the bullet would 'ping' off. I wasn't five feet from the guy. I was safe," Dad at least understood the need for the presentation of overwhelming capability. I was the ever-watching unstoppable defender of the city. It was a myth, but it was one that acted as a deterrence for crime, "I brought it back up before I dodged the other five bullets."  
"Good. Saw the paper, you teamed with an 'unknown cape' to take down Starlight this morning."  
"Skitter. The cape's named Skitter; if they waited for the PRT report they'd know that."  
"When's that going to be delivered?"  
"After my bath."  
"And this new cape?"  
"Controls bugs. Lots of bugs with a great deal of precession."  
"Guy? Girl?  
"No clue, he said he was over a block away when we took down Starlight. Dude had made a humanoid shape out of bugs. Played distraction, talked through the swarm. Like made the various bug noises into actual coherent words."  
"Wow."  
"Yeah. And he can sense through the bugs. Said some senses don't 'translate' well. But damn if that doesn't sound like effective recon."

Dad nodded, I scarfed down the sixth hotdog having eaten one every time Dad got a word in. I had to remember to take it slow, not to prevent myself from choking, but so my perception wouldn't speed up. I actually enjoyed talking with my folks unlike most twenty-year-olds.

Dad put on the next round of hot dogs on to cook as Mom came out the bath; robe wrapped around her as she alerted me to the fact the bath was free. I know what you're thinking, _"you have a whole floor but only one bathroom?"_ Yes but we have two more restrooms. It works…easily.

I sped about gathering the discarded bits of costume, grabbing a fresh set of underclothes and went into dad's workshop. I laid out the costume I wore today on a half empty table. The primarily red body suit had enough gold highlights and black lines to be a nice looking costume by itself. My gauntlets and boots were rather similar to one another, smooth unadorned golden plating made up the greaves and bracers before flowing down in large-segmented sabatons and gauntlets. The plating hid cushions that helped to dampen my strikes to both protect my body and that of my target from the forces I could generate. The boots and gloves themselves were made of the same material as my body suit, but almost as thick in most parts as the chest and abdomen were. The contact points like the palms, fingertips, bottom of the fingers, and sole of the boot were threaded like tires to provide ample friction. Obviously it was thinner and more flexible on the hands to maintain dexterity. Following that was the utility belt with all the PRT required gadgets including my phone. The gorget, roughly described as a metal turtle neck that extended down to cover half the sternum and the clavicles, would plug into the high tech barbute that served as my helmet. I tagged the helmet with a yellow sticky note and wrote a reminder of the HUD flicker I had experienced. Dad would go over it.

That done I headed for the bath.

-/** Author Notes:**  
Right. So… This was a three-day experiment of writing in the first person. I usually use third and missed a lot of the little ways I could have identified the characters. I could for example have described Vigilant with things like 'the gold and red blur,' 'the speedster,' and so forth during the interlude. I didn't like that I never used Taylor's name unless someone was calling her by name. And let's be honest, in the real world that doesn't happen too often.  
The other thing I realize now is that I don't know all that much about bugs. Specifically I didn't realize how many bugs Taylor uses in Worm are mostly only active during certain times of the year (spring and summer). Given that I likely had Taylor collect way too many; especially the beetles. I guess I could hand wave it as she ran a very large circuit to gather them all. I still think 30,000 bugs in and within four blocks of the hospital (which I assumed was surrounded by other multistory buildings) was probably being on the conservative side.

I briefly mention Taylor being near sighted, it's never expletively stated in Worm. But there's appoint during her reveal as weaver when she describes the sight of the news crews becoming blurry when she removed her glasses. So yeah, Taylor is nearsighted.

Vigilant…just spawned. Really. Like as I wrote the scene he's introduced in. I had the idea to show that there's a lot more parahumans in Brockton Bay this time around on both sides of the equation and that Taylor was wanting to jump right back into things, maybe a bit too quickly. Normally when I write I tend to make my cast before hand, both Starlight and Vigilant however wasn't even remotely premade when I started writing the scene in which they're introduced. From there Vigilant just spilled out of my head without much consideration. Well…I did look up the name of the type of helmet he wares.

I'll probably write more for this. I've got a nice set up I haven't see used yet for a Worm fanfic and already put wheels in motion and showed some world building. If you want to see more, review. Tell me what you like what you don't. Egg me on. Give me some feed back and all that jazz.

_-/ Additional AN_:  
So I've updated this chapter 'bout six days after publishing it. An extra thousand or so words help flesh out Taylor's reaction to...well the premise. Yes, she does 'get over it' a bit quickly but from what I read in Worm she was always good at compartmentalizing and generally subduing her emotional response. That's not to say we've seen the last of it.

I'm starting to hate the formatting here. As those who read the original draft of this chapter can attest to, there was a lot of wall of text syndrome going on. That was me trying to enforce the way I type things in word. the margins and page breaks really go a long way to making things more readable. The reason I hate the formatting here (and by here I probably mean online in general) is due to the fact that I can't use some of my formatting standards. like I use a line of '-'s to break chapters and things like the Author Notes what's left is that little '-/' you see above. It also mangles text size and color formatting, and most grievously for my most recent attempts and making this readable, it ignores empty lines.


	2. Chapter 2: Irons

-/ **Chapter 2: Irons** /-

I woke with a start. Feverous cold sweat rolling down burning skin. My stomach lurched at the dream-memory. Nightmares. Brian's body stretched across the inside of a meat locker. Organs visible. Nerves raw and exposed, crisscrossing every surface. I scrambled out of bed. I barely made it to the bathroom in time to puke my dinner out into the toilet. As I heaved again I made a mental note to kill Bonesaw.

"Taylor? Honey, are you okay?" Dad called from the other side of the door that had slammed close behind me. I felt guilty, I must have woken him.  
"I just threw up, Dad. I'm fine really," I called back sickly. This wasn't good I couldn't afford to be sick I had things to do today. And the day after. And every day after that. Damn it. It had been a little over three weeks since I had died and woke up in the locker in another life on another Earth. The events of my previous life, usually little more than fleeting memory, visited me in detail every night. Occasionally it would be a pleasant memory, but by large it was just the nightmares. Some times it'd be Slaughterhouse Nine, other times it was Scion, other times…well my previous life provided ample fodder for hellish dreams.

_Too much of it being things I had personally done…_

"Nightmare about the other day?" Dad asked through the door, his voice was calmer now.  
I didn't answer him though, that would probably make him think that it was, 'yes, the locker incident again'. It did occasionally feature in my dreamscape's cinema. I gurgled some foul-tasting water from the sink while hitting the flush. It took three more gurgling sessions before I stopped tasting bile.  
I felt shaky and weak. I was glad I had no plans for going out in costume; I wouldn't exactly be sending the image I wanted to. Dad had medicine ready at the door with a glass of water.  
"Small sips," he reminded me.

Everything went down and stayed there. Thanking a few religious figures I got down stairs and collapsed into the sofa. I heard Dad in the kitchen bumbling through the cabinets. I moved a cockroach that had ventured into said cabinets out of the way and sight before Dad got to its original position. I let my mind wander to the swarm as I heard his triumphant "ah-ha."

I wasn't overly surprised to find that the vast majority of insects in the neighborhood were either directly around or advancing toward the house. My power had called out to them during and in the aftermath of my latest nightmare and the swarm responded readily. I countermanded the orders; most went back to their regular haunts but a substation portion of the population was headed back towards the derelict that had been the Grovers' house. The hundred or so widows in the basement were restless but busing themselves making my costume. I checked the progress they had made while I was asleep. The body suit was coming along well.

During the day while I was busy with school the spiders hunted and fed; I no longer even had to worry about them fighting one another or biting anyone anymore either. Using my power I had radically altered their minds. Instead of the solitary territorial predators they had been the widows now functioned as a community; individuals and small parties would hunt anything from rodents to other bugs and drag the prey back to the nest in the basement. The massive webs they weaved in the corners of the basement were littered with cocooned prey and swarming with the next generation of my modified stock.

These spiders were as large as my hand with a body length of almost two inches with reinforced exoskeletons and denser muscle. My little web-weavers could produce four times as much silk and store ten times as much unspun dope. As a single 'shift' of my spiders could work almost a week straight before they ran out of silk and the colony in the basement had enough adults to more than total two shifts I didn't even need to rotate the web-spinners during my daily jogs like I had last time around.

* * *

I was distracted from the swarm by the teapot whistling. I could smell ginger. All these changes to my spiders were thanks to my new power and tutelage under Testament. I met the hero nearly a week ago. The memory, unlike those of my previous life came back to me easily.

"I thought I was going to be meeting only you, Testament," I stated through my swarm having detected Vigilant loitering around the prearranged meeting spot with the armored hero. The two members of the Protectorate tensed as I formed a swarm decoy in front of them.  
"And I thought we'd meet mask to mask," He responded. The hero cut an odd figure, while he wore an off-white, dinged and otherwise worn suit of plate armor that looked like second hand caft off from a few different tinkers his proportions was lanky. Instead of wearing a body suit or padding of some sort under the plating Testament's body was wrapped like a mummy in rune inscribed cloth strips. I wondered how long it took him to don everything.  
"My costume's not completely intact," I admitted in swarm speech and it was true, all I had was my mask; the gauntlets were…being difficult. I wasn't exactly thrilled about going out in such an incomplete costume but I needed help understanding my new powers as attested to by the drop in the local bug population that I had used as 'test subjects.'

The swarm finished sweeping the area for others that could possibly be with the heroes. I wasn't going to discount the idea that Armsmaster or Piggot might have set up surveillance to try to identify me. While it was generally looked down on to out a cape, having knowledge of one's identity did give you and advantage when dealing with them. Just ask Shadowstalker. Not finding anything usual, I ducked into an alleyway to change.

"If it's really a problem I could leave. I'm only here because Armsmaster wanted Tess to have back up when meeting 'this unknown cape.' But if my presence here is going to sour things…" Vigilant trailed off. He stood a fair distance apart from his cohort and I idly wondered if there was some friction between the two.  
"I'd rather you stay now that you're involved," My swarm responded as I pulled on my mask and removed my hoody. Under it I had chosen to wear a one-size-too-tight dark grey long-sleeved shirt along with a pair of overly loose black cargos.  
"Why?"  
"You're already here; obviously wanted to meet me 'mask to mask' as well. And it's easier to keep track of you and I won't have to worry about you trying to ID me," My swarm said as it paced. The swarm clone stopped at the entrance the alley I was in. More bugs flowed out of said alley drawing their attention as I walked into the swarm form and it collapsed around my body covering every inch of me in a crawling, shifting mass of insects. The swarm flowed around me while I had the bugs obscuring my yellow lenses scatter as I added; "Besides I'm already here."

My theatrical entrance had served to break the ice. My correspondence with Testament beforehand through an e-mail provided by Vigilant had readied myself for his show and tell style of instruction. To my surprise he wasn't limited by the Manton effect allowing him to not just shape the biology of others, but himself as well. He seemed far more adept at changing his own body then others, and through physical contact I was able to observe the way he modified himself to add features, enhance himself with more efficient organs, redundant systems, and so much more. Together we modified several members of my swarm, sometimes to such extreme levels that it made Vigilant squirm. It was a good thing that he couldn't see how inhuman his partner really was under his wrappings. Testament, I realized belatedly, was a case fifty three.

At the end of our meeting Testament handed me a small insect cage I had noticed with my power; a set of Darwin's bark spiders resided within, a male and an already fertilized female. I had in passing mentioned that the species was able to produce silk that was twice as strong as what I was using and ten times that of Kevlar. If anything could be said about the hero it was the he was gracious in a manner that wasn't common in this time.

* * *

Progress on my costume felt slow, like when you tried to watch water boil, but steady. I almost scraped the progress I had made when I got the Darwin's bark spiders and modified my web-spinners to produce silk of the same quality. Instead I decided to layer in sections of the new silk with the previously spun material serving as a foundation. Right now if I had to guess the body suit was well into the seventy percents of being completed.

The mask itself was completely done now, well completed to my current specifications. I was already considering a number of improvements to the design already, more chitin in the face to reinforce it, additional 'sub-eyes' that would conceal lamps, cameras, microphones, and so forth and so on. That's not to say my current mask was completely identical to my previous designs; beyond the layered silk the mouth and jaw area was notably different. The mandible-styled guards were still present but they were now a buckle and strap design similar to the oxygen masks of a fighter pilot's helmet. Combined with opening in the underlying silk I was now able to expose my mouth if I needed to say eat, vomit, or what have you while in costume without removing or mostly removing my mask.

The gloves took longer to complete, mainly because there was a lot more chitin plating being added. I had 'opera' length gloves that extended to just past the elbow, were in the final design it would button into the sleeve of my body suit. What was problematic was creating strong, rigid claws out of chitin and silk. I had to find the right combination of treatments, building design, and base material that produce a set of claws that matched my requirements. Curing the shells could only be done while Dad was out the house as it tended to smell from the chemicals that were used, while the base materials also had to be manipulated, grown, and harvested. There were problems in the actual construction and I found myself more than once wishing I could just grow a ready to use claw on a bug. I had tied a few times. It didn't work out too well.

Why was I so hung up on making a set of clawed gauntlets? Because I wanted to have a melee weapon always available to me for one; for two it was because it tied into the particular type of martial arts I was learning. At six on Tuesdays and Thursdays I went to Sam's Self Defense and took lessons in Krav Maga, while I spent Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays over at Peerless Kung Fu learning the principals of Eagle Claw fighting.

I had told my dad the night after my trigger event I intended to learn how to defend myself so that he'd have one less reason to worry about me during my morning runs. The added benefit I had stated was the whole honor, discipline, and so forth would also help me endure the bulling at school. I was lying to Dad and I hated it. I was attending two different martial arts schools for the sole purpose of learning how to fight; if I happened to gain that other stuff in the process then all the better.

I had chosen each school for a particular reason. Sam's was a little hole in the wall dōjō run out of the Instructor's basement and situated in deeper into the docks but it taught the rather brutal and decisive art of Krav Maga. I'll admit that the fact that they advertised a focus on self-defense techniques for 'real life' situations and a course specifically geared toward training women in escape techniques had done a lot to sell the school to me. What didn't hurt was watching the YouTube videos of practitioners in action or learning that the 'Sam' of 'Sam's Self-Defense' was actually short for Samantha, the lead instructor's wife.

Peerless Kung Fu on the other hand was much more…what I expected of a martial arts school. The place sat in the corner of a strip mall. It stood out not only because of the horrendously garnished sign depicting a tiger and dragon dueling around it's boarders, but because the building had at some point been expanded to produce a second story and was the only place in the plaza that stood above the original single story construction that had from what I saw of the interiors looked like it had previously been a Chinese buffet and had only seen as little work as possible done to it to convert it into a dōjō. And yet if the peeling and fading paint and stained mats worn to point of being threadbare were any indication the building had been a dōjō for a fair amount of time.

The place had classes going for the majority of the day, unlike Sam's whose six to ten pm classes were due to the instructor's nine to five job, each designated to a particular skill level or group but never seeming to have too many students for the number of present instructors. Further Peerless taught a rather large number of different styles, and weren't actually limited to Kung Fu despite what the name indicated. For example, when another martial arts school, Royal Dragon Martial Arts, went out of business last fall; they hired most of the staff, including Sensei Randall whom teaches Eskrima.

Almost every website I visited had absolutely glowing reviews for the dōjō, the ratings from parents of young students were also very high indicating that it'd be the kind of school that my dad wouldn't mind me attending. The ones who didn't leave glowing recommendations tended to also be the ones who didn't like parahumans. That was notable since not only did Peerless actually offer classes aimed specifically at capes, but their headmaster was Gui Nakamura, better known by his codename Steel Claw.

* * *

Dad disrupted my train of thought when he left for work an hour and a half earlier than usual; He was no doubt headed to one of the locations that had served as a battleground during White Knight's rampage. By that time however I was feeling a lot better. I sat in the basement wrapped in warm polyester pajamas and a fuzzy blanket as I watched the spiders work. I guessed that by the end of the month, the time I told Vigilant I'd likely have enough evidence for Piggot to act on the 'corruption' I was investigating, I'd have the full costume completed. At least a week left till I'd feel like Skitter was truly reborn.

I glanced about the basement before my eyes settled on the small box filled with the odds and ends I had acquired for my costume. I found a woman in the market that was selling some beautiful lens I'd end up using on a future version of the mask. the gold-yellow tinted, polarized lens where easy to spot in the bundle of silk scraps, each were bubbles with a vague geodesic pattern printed across the outside that somehow didn't appear when you looked through them. I honestly had no idea how that worked but I had a large number in an assortment of sizes that would serve as lens covers for anything I could come up with. The box also contained a fair number of wires and electronics. My current mask had a single low grade camera mounted next to the right eye lens. I was already planning to have at least mics and an additional camera added to the mask to better capture what I encountered while out in costume. There were more ideas with requisite parts already stowed away in that box, and detailed in my cape journal.

I called forth a small collection of bugs to me. I reached out and touched one of the beetles in the crowd before me and drew on my power. My target started to twitch as its body slowly swelled in size, unlike with natural growth the beetle's carapace grew in tandem. The bugs that were making physical contact with me were quivering as I drew on them to fuel the change. The growth slowed to a crawl as the last of the fat stores fed into the beetle's expanding form. With a 'push' of my power I went beyond. I was well aware of what I was doing; it wasn't hard to recall how much 'organic matter' Panacea had needed to create Atlas. I watched in morbid curiosity as my 'resource bugs' collapsed in on themselves as my power atrophied the swarm's bodies to supply it with the required matter. As they were fully consumed I checked my patient; it was now immense in size. Not Atlas big, but larger then a tarantula, its body was now almost twice the size of my hand. I focused on the bug's biology tweaking it here and there to make it easier for it to breath, to reinforced it's physiology to support the increase in size, and I focused on the composition of its shell. Once all the adjustments were done I sent the oversized bug down to the Grovers' house to hide along with a small collection of similarly large bugs that would eventually donate their carapaces to my costume.

I massaged my temples hoping to stave of the building migraine that came with this use of my power. The migraines weren't as bad as they had been when I first started testing what I could do but they were still annoying none the less. It was just another shortcoming of this aspect of my power. I knew I could do a great deal with my new powers, but only if I had 'sampled' the biology of a similar organism to use as a basis. It didn't even have to be another arthropod I was basing the changes on either, I had for example turned a cobweb spider's legs into human fingers while practicing under Testament's tutelage. But if I tried to do something without a reference point I usually ended up deforming and killing the 'patient'.

* * *

Between the morning worshiping of the porcelain god and the low grade migraine I wasn't really up for a run, but I pushed myself to jog to school. My return to Winslow High had been celebrated with a renewal of the bullying campaign I had been dealing with. Which was good; I hadn't spent most of my money buying the spyglases for nothing. Realistically I knew they wouldn't stop, I had already lived it once after all and the knowledge of just how little this all amounted to, and the fact I was recording most of my day at school now, helped to take the edge off the torment I endured.

First period however was a safe haven. I had Mrs. Knott for homeroom and once the relatively simple assignment was complete the advanced students like myself had the rest of the period free to goof off online. The work was even more tedious then anything thanks to the fact that I had already done it in my previous life. Not that that stopped me from blowing through the assignment. Tedious didn't really affect me anymore after repeating the same modification to ninety-seven spiders. I dropped the finished file in the 'completed work' folder and went on my merry way to the net.

I still hadn't gotten in contact with Panacea. New Wave's website, such as it is, wasn't much help. It had basic four-year-old profiles for its membership which included four more capes than I remembered, two of which had died between the postings and the present, general mission statements, history section, a gallery, and so forth. The way everything was presented and the text written it felt like the site was made during better, hopeful days near or at the start of the New Wave Movement. For example there were e-mail addresses for fan mail for individual members and a phone number to call if you're interested in having the team show up for some event or something. The movement had basically died with about a quarter of its overall membership and their family being killed or otherwise picked off by villains.

I ended up learning through the Parahumans Online forums that Amy Dallon was last sighted in Australia dealing with the aftermath of the latest Endbringer attack. The attack had occurred shortly after I triggered in this life, without a costume to wear I stayed home. It didn't help matters for me that I didn't recognize the particular Endbringer but knew it was what the cape community referred to as a 'Lesser' Endbringer.

Enbringers were generally more numerous in this Earth then they had been in my previous life, but they never really stepped up their assault schedule like they had in my previous life. Attacks came generally ever 3-4 months. The Major Enbringers were essentially like the ones from my previous life; the Behemoth, Leviathan, Simurgh and so forth. Those three were still in play but they weren't the initial three that this world dealt with. For example; one referred to as Aeon, which looked like a centaur of massive proportions, had been the first Endbringer to be killed by capes and that was back in the 60s.

If the major Endbringers were like big bad raid bosses, lesser Endbringers was a game's sub-bosses or the lieutenants of an organization. They were weaker in pretty much every regard and capes handled them differently then the majors because they were a lot less destructive. They were herded, kited, and contained as best they could be until the Endbringer got annoyed and left, by contrast the goal with the majors was to kill them. And it made sense; despite being weaker the lessers still filled 'slots' in the Endbringer lineup that attacked in a set order. Leaving the lessers alive meant that there could be greater periods between the major Endbringer attacks, which meant more time for recovery and planning.

The bell rang as I was still considering Endbringers and the differences they must have on this Earth given that there was no Scion to drive them off. I adjusted my glasses to stealthily turn on the concealed microphone and camera in the legs after shouldering my backpack. Sophia added another entry into my records when she shoulder checked me while headed down the stairs that I had to head up to get to History. She put enough force behind it to throw me easily off balance and I slipped before catching myself on the railing.

_Bitch._

And waiting for me in my next class was a desk covered in glue paste. Cute. I took another seat and was rewarded with the disappointed sigh of one of the trio's auxiliary friends I shared the class with. I couldn't help but think that if it was disappointing for her to simply not see me react to such a blatant prank that she'd be sorely disappointed when everything came crashing down on the terrible trio's heads.

History was one of those classes I hadn't ever put much work into because it was well dull. The me of this world hadn't been of the same mind but maybe that was because the history of capes spanned more than just the last thirty years; there was around eighty years of cape history to cover, surely some of it was interesting. I suppose the fact that Mr. Michelson, my history teacher, to put it mildly was so animated helped the class pay attention to the lecture. He went overboard waving his arms around, exclaiming like he was in a certain frank miller movie, and even showing up to class wearing period costumes. Mr. Michelson hadn't existed in my past life, or if he did he didn't teach at Winslow.

The rest of the day was uneventful, which I was thankful for. In a way; part of me actually wanted the girls to do something major again so I could record it. If they did something like the locker incident or stealing my mom's flute again I'd have the kind of proof that would be impossible to ignore all on its own. The clincher I guess you could call it.

* * *

After the bus ride home I did a check on the bugs at the Grovers' using my power. I was particularly interested in the small collection of wasp queens I had stashed there. Wasps during this time of the year usually were still overwintering. I had left most of them in that state with only one behaving as if it was spring. The hornet's nest from what I could tell was coming along nicely. I called one to the hibernating queens and several of the workers from the budding colony sending them home ahead of me as I intended to use the bugs for my next modification project.

When I got home I immediately headed up to my room depositing my backpack on my bed as I booted up my aged computer. I didn't have internet at home, but that only meant that I had a secure place to store and edit all of the 'evidence' that I recorded from my glasses. While the machine booted up I filled in today's entries in the bullying journal and scribbled down some notes on ideas I had come up with for bug manipulation. The spiders I modified were working wonderfully and I wanted to try enhancing some of my more valuable swarm members. Like the hornets.

Once the boot sequence was done I downloaded the data from my glasses while I made sure the duffle I stored my martial arts stuff was ready to go. It was; I hadn't moved it since the previous night. I threw the sweats I used for Sam's in the wash with a quick load and made sure the second-hand gis didn't smell of sweat...well more so then normal.

The computer beeped indicating the download was done and I sat down to work through the syncing of the audio and video components and authoring Skitter's entry for the event – taking care to use different wording, phrases, and so forth from my entries in my bully journal so it would be less obvious that Skitter and Taylor were the same. I had even come up with a fiction concerning how Skitter and Taylor crossed paths, how the cape knew Shadow Stalker's civilian identity and so forth. It helped considerably that Sophia was a creature of habit I had been able to catch her phasing while in civilian guise with the camera Skitter wore on more than one occasion. It went:

Skitter encountered Shadow Stalker while the latter was in costume utilizing lethal ammunition –I have one of her bolts that I found in the docks to support this claim. Aware of her probationary status in the Wards and the associated requirements for her to use non-lethal ammunition Skitter then tracked her back to her home where she discovered that Sophia was Shadow Stalker. The next day the cape followed Sophia to school and observed through her swarm Sophia's bullying tendencies; particularly in regards to me. After school Skitter approached me in an alleyway. I thinking she was a villain had pepper sprayed her. To no effect (I actually tested the spray on my mask when it was completed to see if I could be affected through it so there was likely some lingering spray. Skitter presented the spyglasses and a 'solution' to my bullying problem. Given that this happened less than a week after the locker incident I was inclined to accept.

Dad got home from work. I headed downstairs with my backpack and duffle; as I entered the kitchen my dad greeted me, "Taylor. How was school?"  
"It was school," I responded setting the duffle down next to the backdoor.  
"More bullying?"  
"It wouldn't be a normal day in my life without it?"  
Dad sighed as I got out my homework, "What happened?"  
"Sophia shoulder checked me on the stairs. I caught the railing before I could go tumbling down. Then in History my desk was smeared with that pasty Elmer's glue. I choose a different seat," I explained.

Last time I hadn't talked to my dad about what was happening and as a result he ended up thinking that every day since it happened had been something as bad as the locker incident. It had been one of the many things that had drove us apart so I had resolved myself to share; besides if he knew how petty the majority of it was he'd be less liable to try to take matters into his own hands. And since Dad knew who the guilty party was and had been in frequent contact with Emma's dad, who was representing us for our suit against the school and had no idea his daughter was one of the bullies, he could very well do something about it.

"Maybe you should ask your instructor how to defend against a shoulder check then," my dad suggested in his mind I should be able to respond to Sophia's more physical bulling without getting into more trouble. And he might actually have been right if she wasn't a cape.  
"Well there are stairs in the dojo…"  
Dad laughed.  
"I have a feeling that most of the responses Sensei Nakamura would demonstrate to me would be things that'd end up getting me in more trouble."  
"Have you learned anything so far that can help you?"  
"I… well there's the breathing techniques to help me from flying off the handle," Dad didn't seem all that amazed at the idea but last Friday when Sophia had ran up behind me and threw me by the backpack into a puddle of cold mud the breathing had helped me keep my power under control. I had caught that one somewhat on camera.  
"I also learned how to break arm grabs," technically that was something I learned at Sam's, but Dad didn't know the difference.  
"Is that so?" my dad looked around, "Is it something you can show me here or would you be throwing me around?"  
"I can show you here," set my math homework to the side and got up, "You won't even end up on the floor. It's just a basic move."

A few moments later Dad was rubbing his shin where I had more or less kicked him the six times he had grabbed my arm too tightly for me to just use the basic technique to escape, "I'm supposed to aim for soft tissue, but I figured you might want to give me a brother one day."  
Dad chuckled at that, "Instead you aim for the shin like a bratty five-year-old. I can imagine the groin kick would be pretty effective deterrent from repeated attempts."  
"Or the follow up kick to the face if they double over from the pain."  
"That hurts just thinking about it."

While I finished up the remainder of my homework, Dad put together dinner. By the time I had eaten it was a little before five when my dad would normally get home. I knew he had worked out some kind of arrangements with the other shift managers to be able to get home earlier. It was probably why his mornings started so damn early now. It pained me because I knew he was doing it largely for my benefit.

* * *

Dad had insisted on driving me to Peerless Kung Fu. He hadn't actually been there yet and wouldn't have known where it was if not for me having pointed the dojo you the Sunday before when we had eaten out at one of the better pizzerias. I could already tell he wanted to do the whole walk in and get a look see to understand this facet of his daughter's life. As such I didn't argue when he stated that he wanted to come in with me.

No one was in the front 'waiting' area so we followed the sounds of 'hi-yahs' into what would have been the actual dining area of the original restaurant. Eight students in a random assortment of white martial arts uniforms were practicing forms. Dad couldn't help but notice that three of the students were wearing masks. The sole guy in that subgroup was wearing a heavily padded costume that was a rust color; identification was made easier by the shield emblem on his chest and shoulders. Any confusion at seeing Aegis here was put to rest when you realized the PRT probably had a standing contract with Peerless for Nakamura to train their capes. It did after all make sense. Dad of course was staring dumfounded. I chuckled drawing his attention before adding, "There's four capes in the room Dad."  
"Four? I only see three."  
I pointed to each as I identified, "There's Jamie in the red and blue mask, Felix in the similar black mask with poorly sewn on cat ears, Aegis of the Wards in the rust colored suit, and Sensei Nakamura is the instructor in the tattered gi. You might recognize him better by his cape name, Steel Claw."  
"The Steel Claw?" Dad asked in disbelief. I thought it was funny since Steel Claw was actually the right generation for my dad to have grown up hearing about the nigh immortal's exploits when he was an active cape.  
"The one and the same," I replied. To me he was Sensei Nakamura, his days as the Steel Claw had been over for almost a decade and his exploits in costume were more like rumor. My dad on the other hand had probably saw things on TV like the time he challenged Alexandria to a duel and the two fought to a draw. That was one of those things that sounded like rumor, especially when you considered that Nakamura was only rated as a Brute 2/Mover 4 while Alexandria was above five in each.  
"Wait. You said the girl with cat ears was Felix, as in Felix your friend from class?"  
"Yeah," Dad arced his eyebrow at me, his way of asking me to elaborate. So I did, "She's cool; eighteen maybe nineteen years old. And she's been helping me learn some of the stuff I have trouble with."  
"What's her power?"  
"She's pretty much a were-cat. Claws, black-grey fur, catlike features, everything but a tail and a predisposition for balls of yawn included. She can even transform partially, like to only make use of certain qualities."  
"And Aegis? He's one of those super strong brute class capes right?"  
"Actually his strength is more the product of an endless adrenaline rush. His real power is the ability to pretty much take any kind of punishment and not just heal from it but not have it slow him down in the slightest. He wears that padded suit for our safety, in case he doesn't pull an attack enough while sparing after getting riled up."  
"They let you spar with capes?"  
"Well yeah. But Felix never beasts out, Jamie's a blaster so she just doesn't use hers, and Aegis acts more like a punching bag that occasionally pushes back then anything."  
"I'm beginning to understand why your gi is so beaten up." Dad told me.  
I couldn't help but smirk in response: I actually had two gis but I was certain which one he was talking about, "Actually Felix gave it to me like that, all that damage is from when she went full on were-cat while wearing it. Speaking of which, let me go change."

The locker rooms if I had to guess was once the kitchen of the previous Chinese restaurant though you could only really tell by the cracked tile floor. Beyond that the room looked more like an odd mix of restroom and locker room features. The wall that segmented the girls and boys sides was covered in lockers and while the room included showers and all the accommodations of a proper lavatory, the various stalls that dominated the space were more closely related to the changing rooms one would find in a department store. These stalls differentiated themselves from those by the high-tech 'privacy' devices built into them and the room at large. Pressing the cape icon -well it was actually a domino mask, but whatever- locked the stall's door and made it glow with a light depending if any humanoid organics were in the room proper. Green meant there were none while red indicated one or more. This allowed a cape to change in private and simply wait till the light shown green to exit their stall. When they did so all the other stalls in the locker room would lock for about a minute to give the cape ample time to leave the locker room without having to worry about someone else hiding in a stall emerging at the same time.

These weren't the only measures protecting cape identities either; Peerless I learned was an electronic dead zone. I'm not exactly sure how it worked but my phone was locked as soon as I stepped through the door into the dojo and unlocked as soon as I exited. That meant if a parent called a student they had to leave the building to answer but this lockdown affected all sorts of electronics, even things that weren't networked. Try to record something and you'd end up with a video and audio track of static. All these intricacies for cape security were due to the fact that Peerless was one of the neutral grounds of Brockton Bay, unless they were training under Nakamura's watchful eyes no cape was dumb enough to fight here.

When I emerged from the locker room I found Dad and Sensei Nakamura talking. I tried to ignore them as I went through the stretches and warm up exercises; usually I skipped about half of them since I'd jog to class but with Dad having driven me here I didn't have that luxury.

"So you train capes too?" Dad asked. His arms were crossed as he stood next to Sensei Nakamura as if it made his lanky frame look more imposing. I wasn't sure how noticeable to others it was but I could tell my dad was restraining himself; probably suppressing his inner fanboy. After all as I mentioned before the Steel Claw was in the right generation to be one of Dad's heroes.  
"Yes, the second floor is actually designed for sparing between capes," Nakamura smiled the mix of Asian features, strong jaw, and a 'superman' curl of bangs somehow looking younger next to my father's world weary visage. This contrast was completely flipped when one looked to their outfits; my dad a jacket over a plaid shirt and a pair of well broken in jeans while Nakamura wore one of the most beaten up gis I'd ever be able to imagine with a belt that while black was fading to grey from age, "We generally move them up there when we start working on combat merging."  
"Combat merging?"  
He sighed, "Where we develop ways to use a cape's powers in close quarters combat. It doesn't matter if the cape has a power that synergizes well with hand to hand fighting or not; in fact the less obvious synergy in the power the more rewarding it is to develop a combat system around. That said there tends to be a lot of trial and error, and property damage, involved. I'm one of the few people who can actually train capes like this, so smart capes will pay rather exorbitant prices to learn from me. Anyway, because they tend to pay more I can offer classes for unaugmented physiques at pretty low prices."  
"Oh."  
"Would I have to worry about my daughter sparing with a cape?"  
"You mean besides when I'm showing her how to do something?" the martial arts master retorted as he leaned against the wall, "You won't have to worry about her coming home hurt from it. But she'll probably end up sparing with them by the end of the day."  
Dad rubbed his chin in thought before Nakamura continued, "Besides at the rate she's progressing our capes will be the ones worried about sparing with her. She's very quick on the uptake I've only seen a few people advance as quickly as her, and most of them are members of my own family."  
"Is she that good?"  
"Your daughter is a white belt in a class full of brown and black belts and she does better than holding her own. If I didn't know any better I'd say she was previously trained."

I couldn't help but smile at the praise. In truth I was guaranteed to spare with capes because my class actually consisted of nothing but capes. Nakamura had figured out that I was a cape in less than a week of lessons and had put me in the same class as most of his cape students that weren't in their own private classes out of necessity. The only reason I was here now and not the next hour when the 'cape class' actually started was to appear as Taylor. After all it would look weird if Taylor suddenly stopped coming to class around the same time a similarly built cape started attending the cape classes. I intended to keep coming to classes as both myself and Skitter until I finally decided to tell Dad I had triggered since I'd need to keep up the deception if he decided to do this sort of thing again. Not that minded all that much, extra practice was always welcomed.

To be considered an 'attending student' all I was required to do was show up for and participate in classes for three hours a week. To further add to the flexibility Peerless actually offered the same class several times a day, for example the current class I was in was at 11 am and 5pm. Further Nakamura actually encouraged us to 'sit in' on other classes and we could do so at no additional cost. He and the other instructors would rather we attend several instances of a particular class to learn a lesson then to go home with only a partial understanding of the material and possibly get something wrong when we undoubtedly practiced on our own. Doing so without a proper understanding of things often resulted in the development of bad habits. Or at least that's how they explained it to us.

* * *

As I transitioned from stretches to warm up exercises I recalled the day he had sat me down in his office for a talk. He had initiated the conversation with a simple, "Taylor."  
"Sensei," I reflexively returned; I wasn't sure if he realized it was supposed to be a bit of a joke.  
"You know I value honesty in my students, correct?" he asked causing my stomach to fall. I wasn't sure how but he knew. I hadn't even triggered a week ago and someone had already figured me out. I remember trying to figure out what exactly game me away. I had been using my powers, but I thought I had been subtle enough with them. I used barely any bugs to tag my sparing partners, most of the time they were simple houseflies that wouldn't be out of place even during the winter. Beyond that I had a few bugs on the walls that I used to give me more perspective. Nothing that should have tipped anyone off.  
"You said that a few times today...at least a few times," I smarted back. I couldn't help it Gui generally joked with his students just as much as he taught them. It was like he was the martial arts equivalent of a Mr. Gladly but it actually worked for him because he tempered the joking with the amount of respect and trust he radiated.  
"So you can understand my confusion when I notice that one of my students is a cape, and she despite knowing my own background and that I have a special program for capes never informed me."  
"I don't-"  
"Taylor, there's only so many times I can ignore how your sparing partner always ends up with a few flies hanging onto his gi or the way more bugs are visible while you're here then when your not. Or the way they seem to react to you on an instinctual level. I'm worried that I may be putting my normal students at risk by having an unknown element training alongside them. So here we are. What exactly is your power?"  
I took a breath. I hadn't realized I was being that noticeable. This was bad. Right? I had only met Nakamura four days ago, but I also knew enough about his persona in costume to know he was a trustworthy sort. I made my decision and took a leap of faith, "I can control, and sense through bugs."  
"I'll admit that sounds a bit lackluster."  
"I can individually control every one of the bugs within a few blocks from me at once with a great deal of precession. Imagine for a moment a swarm of a variety of bugs ranging from mosquitoes to black widow spiders. They are directed not by instinct but a human intelligence fully aware of each individual bug's capability, position, and status. They attack in coordinated swarms, fliers airlifting their grounded brethren, stinging and biting bugs like wasps and spiders target soft tissue, other bugs clog openings or obscure sight. The swarm is pretty much an army and I their general. They are strong on their own, but become exponentially stronger with a greater intellect behind them."  
"Have I mentioned I'm an arachnophobe?" Gui queried the light tone suggesting he was joking, "How does this factor into your hand to hand fighting?"  
"I can use bugs to track my opponent's movements, allowing me to sense when they attack and already be reacting before they have even fully committed themselves to the assault. You can't really flank me, and you rarely surprise me. In a real battle I'd have a swarm of bugs circling me and crawling over my body, masking my movements, harassing attackers, and providing a physiological aspect to my presence."  
"This bug sense is how you were keeping up with Felix then?"  
"I…_so that was the clincher. _Yeah. I was reading her movements before a normal human would have been able to. But really I wasn't keeping up with her. She was still out pacing me."  
"Don't sell yourself short, I don't think she's had anyone ever get that close to matching her in speed before."  
"Not even speedsters?"  
"Not many seek martial arts training. At least here."  
"Oh." I said. That was somewhat understandable. If you had more overtly physical powers like brutes, strikers, or most changers and movers there was generally less need for actual hand-to-hand training; you could get away with brawling and still be combat effective, "So where does this put me?"  
"Well, you don't have to worry about me outing you. That's one. But your week of free lessons is over after today. From here on out if you want to continue learning here I can think of a few options. I'd say to keep your identity a secret attend the next week or so for classes as you are. Just limit your bugs more. I'll even wave the fee for next week if you just want to stop there."  
"And if I actually do want to learn?"  
"I have a private class with Felix and another pair of capes, I'll put you in there and we can continue training with your powers active. For those you come in costume, at least a mask. If you need it I've got a few dozen or so old luchador masks around here somewhere."  
"They're in a half-closed box in the closet over there," I said motioning with my head, "A spider made its home inside the box."  
"Right," Nakamura laughed, "Well what do you think?"  
"I need a price to pitch to my dad."

* * *

Dad had left midway through my forms so by the time this class let out around six I didn't have to worry about trying to come up with an excuse for staying later. I hung back and made a poor attempt at small talk with Felix while the rest of the class hit the locker rooms. The feline themed cape was not only another powered student here but also an assistant instructor, a friend of sorts, and the only other person aware that I was a cape. Nearby Aegis signed an autograph for one of the parents that had waited inside for their kids.

"So, you think you can play cover for me tonight if Dad calls?" I asked Felix.  
She smiled, "More recon?"  
"Yeah. I just don't want my dad worrying about me being out late. You know."  
"Sort of; my folks know I'm …well me. And I'm not one for more than a late night stroll. Not really a patrol or anything. Right?" Felix responded. She had told me about how when she triggered it was in a response to Empire Eighty-Eight trying to assault her and her Jewish parents. So it wasn't like it was ever a secret from her parents; they had had a good view of the woman retaliating with lethal force against the skinheads.  
"Yeah," I replied quietly as my mind conjuring comparisons to our parents and the possibilities of what would happen when Dad did find out about my powers, "I better get ready."

I slipped into the locker room as the last of the previous class was finishing changing back into their street clothes. Stepping into a stall I quickly changed into costume. I even changed my gi to the more damaged one Felix had given me and replaced my white belt with a grey sash of spider silk. I couldn't' hope that no one would notice if Taylor and Skitter wore the same gi and it wasn't like the one I was putting on was unusable, it fit well enough and the sleeves which had been torn apart after Felix completely transformed in it were easily wide enough to accommodate my gauntlets.

Instead of heading back into the main training room I took a flight of stairs up to the second floor. The cape room as it was generally called looked almost identical to the lower floor; it even had the same smell, a mix between musk and cleaning product, something I learned was because no amount of Febeze was going to get the sent of sweat, blood, and whatever else out of the mats. The chief exceptions to this were the tinker tech lining the walls that reinforced the walls to thee point I bet a nuke could detonate inside the room without causing much if any structural damage. The other difference was that one of the walls further featured an array of heavy duty 'glass' that allowed spectators to watch the capes train with some degree of safety. I wanted my dad to be on the other side of the partition one day.

"Alright. Skitter, what's with the gauntlets?" Aegis asked motioning to my clawed armwear. He stood with the rest of my 'class.' Jamie, Felix, Sensei Nakamura and he had all still wore their training gear I was the only one that had to change between classes, not that Aegis and Jamie knew.  
No reason to let them in on the secret unless I had to. I called upon the small swarm I had connected to since arriving and brought them into the room. Utilizing the swarm's 'voice' I answered, "I finally completed them last night. Been working on them for a while to tie into the eagle claw techniques Felix has been teaching me. Like them?"  
"They look badass," Jamie stated as she grasped one of my hands and pulled my sleeve back to expose the entire gauntlet. From what I understood Jamie was a typical airborne artillery cape. She had demonstrated her power when we were first introduced by making a small sphere of crackling blackish lighting before fizzing it out. She was very reserved in her power usage which was a good thing since she was rated as a Blaster 9 primarily because of the raw destructive force she had behind her attacks. And while she was maybe a year or two older then me she had that awe and excitability of a young child. I wouldn't be surprised to learn it was a side effect of her power.  
Aegis asked, "What's the plating made from?"  
Everyone had demonstrated some of their power to their peers so that there was some level of trust between each other. Aegis flew, Jamie showed off her ball lighting, Felix went beast, and I demoed a swarm decoy that mimicked Jamie's antics. So no one was really surprised when I answered, "Chitin. Insect shells, like beetles and stuff."  
"Same as your mask?"  
"Mostly, there are a lot of technical details, but basically there's around eight different compositions types of chitin in the gauntlets, only two in the mask. If I was stronger I could probably jam my claws into a wall to climb and not worry about the tips breaking."  
"Nice." Aegis responded.

Everyone was stretching out. Unlike most of his classes, his cape classes usually consisted of mostly sparing with Felix and Nakamura giving pointers and everyone making observations. Nakamura singled me out by locking eyes with me, "Did you get all stretched and warmed up Skitter?"  
"Yes sir," I replied using another simple difference in my speech to make me less recognizable. While Taylor called Nakamura 'sensei,' Skitter called him 'sir.' It might seem like a small thing but it was usually a collection of small things that gave away secret identities.  
"Then you're up first. Show me how dangerous those claws are," he said as he walked into the center of the room and tuned to face me. I called my swarm to me surreptitiously tagging him and the others with a few bugs to keep track of everyone as he discarded the top of his gi, no doubt to keep it from being damaged by my claws. Gui's build reminded me of Bruce Lee, extremely defined musculature on what was essentially an average frame and a light build; if not for the fact that I knew better I'd say he was in his early to mid-twenties as his body showed no sign of aging beyond that point. When he stepped into his own fighting stance I adopted a stance somewhere between the general Krav Maga combat stance and the stance used for Eagle Claw fighting.

We spared for about two minutes going back and forth. Gui made it a point to stay one step ahead of any offensive I threw at him while my bugs on him gave me ample time to recognize his own actions and simply not be there. That's not to say we didn't hit each other, occasionally one would slip up and get tagged, Nakamura mostly got caught when my swarm temporarily blocked his view and masked my movements for a second.

Felix as my primary instructor in Eagle Claw would occasionally note a missed opportunity or generally critique my performance. That said I couldn't get a good enough grip on my sensei to really do anything to put him down even as I called in more bugs to my swarm bulking it out to use some complex tactics later. Every time I thought I had a good grab the martial arts master would simply slip out, often times leaving a small trail of blood in his wake from where my claws raked his flesh. Further when he slipped out of my grip he'd reply with a swift jab to my armored chin.

Just about when Aegis started laughing at the situation I followed up another swipe at the offending arm by dropping to a knee and catching Gui by the his lead ankle and hoisting him up. Already off balanced from his retreat he fell and I quickly kicked him over onto his stomach and put my teacher into a loose variation of ankle lock I learned the night before at Sam's. I taped my claw against his Achilles tendon as Nakamura started theatrically pleading making the rest of us erupt in laughter, "Oh spare me! I give I give. Oh woe is me!"

A few moments after when Aegis stepped in to go toe to toe with Gui, the injuries I had given Nakamura was already completely healed. The Ward went about combat completely differently; he didn't try to dodge, rather he took the blows and tried to trap the attacking limb. In one instance he caught Nakamura's punch, stepped in and head butted the martial artist hard enough to put him on the ground.

When Nakamura responded to this by upping the stakes trying joint locks and throwing some obviously augmented attacks, Aegis displayed great technical understanding countering holds, swaying and deflecting powered attacks with just enough movement to get the job done. In the middle of all this Gui put the young hero in a very painful looking hold that the ward responded to by bodily lifting the older man into the air and slamming him to the mats. He followed with an almost lazy slap to the side of Gui's head that made sensei laugh while releasing the hold. In a real fight Nakamura would likely have been knocked unconscious or worse from the blow Aegis could have delivered there.

Aegis could fight with little regard to his own safety because he was so hard to put down. You could put a spear through his heart and he'd not do more than stagger back from the force of the blow. The Ward literally had redundant systems atop redundancies. It wasn't even known if something like a decapitation could kill him since he even had a decentralized nervous system. Add to that that he could also regenerate rather quickly and it made him extremely hard to remove from a fight, which all things considered was probably why he was leader of the Wards currently.

Jamie went up against Sensei next. Out of all of us she was the one who least needed to be in this class, she couldn't use her powers without outright killing. Even the little ball of energy she had demoed for me was too dangerous to utilize like a striker power. Her blaster power was pretty much the entirety of her abilities as well so when it came to hand to hand combat she was essentially just a person who could fly. Not that you could tell she was normal when she essentially bum rushed Nakamura for three minutes straight not giving him even a moment to breath.

Jamie has legs that would easily be described as going on for miles, and she made heavy use of them not only constantly attacking but also out distancing the Steel Claw. When Nakamura tried to close the distance she danced away easily before springing back to the offensive. She did eventually go down when Gui caught her by the leg and pulled her into an overly cautious clothesline.

After that we were paired off, Felix and I in one group while Jamie and Aegis formed the other. Felix corrected some of the things I was screwing up with the claw fighting with not just demonstration and practice but by explaining why the motions were performed a certain way. Sometimes she broke down a particular maneuver into its individual components and sometimes she showed me how to chain it together with other moves or variations on the basic form. All of this helped with my usage of the particular technique.

Nakamura hadn't been blowing hot air when he told my dad I was progressing rapidly. I wanted to attribute this to the fact I did have years of combat experience to draw on that most new students didn't have, or simply being a good study but the truth was unlike others I could watch myself fight from every direction to see how closely I matched the demonstrated moves. I could correct myself based on what I'd seen and inferred from watching the techniques in play. So when it came to learning the proper form, it wasn't much trouble at all. My problems occurred when I tried to utilize those moves in sparing or, god forbid, an actual fight. If I had to make an analogy it would be with fighting games, you might know the button combination of a particular move, but until you learn when, were, and how to use the move it's worthless.

With Felix as my teacher and intermediately borrowing Aegis for a human punching bag I actually felt like I had learned a great deal by the end of the class. Something that Aegis was quick to point out after Jamie and Felix had headed to the locker room to change, "So Skitter, what are you going to do with all this 'Kung Funk' you're learning between here and that other place?"  
"I'm going to use it. There's a reason why I'm more focused on the 'practical aspects' of the martial arts," I could already tell where this was going.  
"So you're actually going to go out there in costume at some point?"  
"_Yep, I know exactly where this is headed,"_ I thought before answering, "Yeah. What did you think I was going to be a rogue when I'm putting this much effort into my costume and combat capability?"  
"Well you never know there's this one rogue I've met whose costume is really intricate but she doesn't fight. She uses her powers for advertising."  
"Which one is that?" I asked despite having a pretty good guess who he was referring to.  
"Parian," he answered proving me right, "Though, come to think of it the Gemini Twins are also rogues who use their duplication power for advertising."  
I rolled my eyes, "Do I look like I'm one of those types of capes? I think I wear too much to work as a super powered booth babe."  
Aegis made a show of looking me over. Given the odd way he moved his head to illustrate it I couldn't help but think he was more likely imitating something he saw Clockblocker do. Not to mention he just didn't strike me as the time to check out people so overtly, "I suppose not. Honestly you look villainous."  
I felt a wave of disappointment that was oddly disconnected from me. I knew the costume looked more edgy then most heroes would wear, Armsmaster himself had told me outright on my first night out in my last life that I didn't look like a hero; more recently Vigilant assumed something similar. My costume this time around was even more 'edgy' and yet some part of me was disappointed to hear someone voice it. I quipped, "More like venomous."  
"What?"  
"I'm going to be a hero. Maybe not by your narrow definition, but that's what I'm going to be. Who I am," I said with more convection then I ever remember having. This wasn't some sort of ploy like when I became Weaver to better position myself to stop the end of the world. This was my honest heart. That scared me a little.

Before I was a villain by circumstance; shaped by camaraderie provided by the Undersiders and the revelation that people like Shadow Stalker and Armsmaster could twist the system to serve their wants and still be called heroes. Combined with my lack of other friends and a misguided attempt to infiltrate the Undersiders it was far, far too easy to let myself become friends and identify with them. I might be throwing away the friendships I could have with them, but this time I was going to twist circumstance to accommodate my original desire to be a hero. Creepy powers and bad public image be damned I was going to be a superhero.

"Something wrong Skitter?"  
"Sorry, I got distracted by a thought. You were winding up to pitch joining the Wards right?" I asked; when he nodded in affirmation I added, "Don't bother. I'm not interested...At least not right now."  
I could see Aegis's shoulders slump, he must have thought he had been more subtle in the lead up or maybe he was disappointed in my answer, "Oh. So if I ask you later."  
"If later is well after I make a name for myself, then yeah I'd imagine I'd be a bit more receptive to the idea_,_" I said giving him a sly smile that he couldn't see behind my mask as I mentally added, _"In fact I think I may end up joining sooner rather than later if my plans are too successful."_

* * *

After class I did exactly what I had told Felix I would. I did some recon. Brockton Bay was different then I remembered in from my past life. I had first noticed the differences while on one of my runs, every now and then I'd come across a building that had been remodeled to function as something it wasn't in my last life or one that had been completely replaced with a different structure. A tenement in the slummiest section of the docks for example, had been bull dozed at some point and the lot now housed a surprisingly well-maintained park that was named after a local cape that had heroically fell against the Slaughterhouse Nine the last time they had come to the Bay. I couldn't be sure where things were and how accurate my memories from the previous life were, thus it was necessary for me to get a lay of the land once more.

But by far the biggest difference was that Brockton Bay's position as a major 'cape city' was more obvious in this life. With a few extra generations of capes vying for control over the city, there were more leftovers from the previous generations. The warehouses and storage units used as hideouts in my previous life were still popular but it was nothing compared to the underground which was almost littered with facilities. Endbringer shelters, cold war bunkers, and the secret lairs of villains and vigilantes both occupied and abandoned were all over the place. One just had to know to look and where. And bugs knew where to look.

I was deep within the docks dressed in my usual running clothes jogging along seemingly oblivious to any possible threat. The truth was that the bugs of the city were skittering to and fro feeding me information on their surroundings. Over the course of an hour I had located several places that warranted further investigation. Picking one out of the lot to double back and get a better sense of lead me in a vague impression of a circuit, if I was right I knew what I'd be doing my first night out in costume.

My mind was so focused on the bugs crawling through the buildings two blocks away I didn't immediately notice when I ran right into a patch of darker, inky night. I blinked and slowed down to a walk as my mind tried to catch up with my body. I could barely hear my own foot falls, my eyes were completely worthless and it felt like I was walking through... Grue. Damn it. Grue was somewhere nearby; if he was using his darkness it likely meant combat. I sent bugs a head of me as I ventured on trying to find my way out of the inky blackness.

I adjusted my glasses and surreptitiously turned on the camera and mic built into the spyglasses' legs. Only moments later I was snatched and pulled against someone's body. Grue's hollow voice echoed from behind me as he turned us about, "Behave and this will be over shortly."  
My breath hitched in my throat for all the wrong reasons. Forget the fact that the leather-clad villain had his hands positioned to easily snap my neck; Grue, or rather Brian, played a starring role in almost every damn one of the more pleasant memory-dreams. I forcibly shoved the lingering feelings from my past life away as I tried to clear my head. Grue didn't know me, we'd never crossed paths in this life and we certainly hadn't had any sort of relationship. I heard a crack of barely audible static followed by a very tiny but familiar voice, "Grue just hold out a little while longer, Rachel sent Brutus your way. He should be with you in just a bit."  
"Right," Came the distant yet near voice's response. Grue banished the darkness around us revealing ourselves and the creeping unsubstantial from of Shadow Stalker. The probationary Ward quickly aimed both her crossbows at us. From my position I could see that the bolts loaded were not the tranquilizer bolts that she was supposed to be using. My eyes no doubt widened to near comical proportions; but it wasn't because of the weapons trained on me. It was because I knew this scenario.

"Don't get any ideas Shadow Stalker; wouldn't want the blood of an innocent on your hands would you?"  
"You think I care about a weakling that got in the way?" Sophia icily responded. I glowered at her. Brian's grip on me was loose; having slacked at Sophia's devil may care response. I briefly wonder about the ramifications of my being shot by her, It would definitely draw attention to what type of bolts she used and I could possibly leverage it to make the PRT look into our shared past. I quickly threw that line of thinking overboard; I'd rather not get shot.  
"I think it'd look bad if you started leaving injured civilians in your wak-" I jammed my elbow into Grue's abdomen just under his ribcage with as much force as I could muster with as little lead in as possible. He sucked breath in surprise as I slipped out of his grip. Darkness immediately consumed him but not before Shadow Stalker fired her weapons. I head a pained cry that sounded like it came from the other end of the block.

Grue's biker leathers slammed into me bodily as he staggered from the injury. We tripped over one another and I ended up sandwiched between Grue's large frame and the brick face of a building. I felt the shaft of one of Sophia's bolts against my arm and I did something I'd probably regret later. I grabbed it and pulled. Brian let out a pained growl in my ear as I extricated the bolt forcing myself to focus on the fact that the bolt was undeniable evidence that Sophia wasn't playing by the PRT's rules and not the fact that I just made his wound worse.

Grue pushed himself off of me and sent me tumbling onto the ground as other noises reached me. I rolled away from him as the darkness opened around the two of us. Brutus in all his mutated glory lurched into the area positioning himself for Brian to mount. A few heavy breaths later he had pulled himself into the metaphorical saddle. I could see Brian was cradling his gut trying to staunch the bleeding. He met my eyes for a long second before uttering a barely audible, "go"

And Brutus went. Just as he disappeared into the darkness Shadow Stalker emerged her crossbows reloaded and ready to finish things. She glanced around and spotted me and all the blood.

"Shit. I didn't hit you right?" she asked angrily. She probably thought it was my fault for it if I'd have been hit, never mind I had made every attempt to get out of the way and she was the shooter. That was just the way her mind worked and I wondered if it was due in part to her powers or if she'd always been so messed up. I leaned towards the latter.  
I shook my head, "It's his blood."  
"Fuck yeah," She retorted proud of the injury she inflicted, "Which way did he go?"  
I motioned with my head before elaborating, "He got on some kind of monster mutt."  
"Damn it!" She hadn't even taken three steps when she stopped again. Seemingly remembering for the first time she added with a sigh, "Nice job making an opening."  
"Thanks." I said breathlessly as one of my personal tormenters disappeared into the remnants of Grue's darkness without the slightest inkling of what awaited her. I tried not to smile as I walked home with the evidence that would cement Sophia's fate wrapped in newspaper and tucked securely in the pocket of my now blood-stained hoody.

**Interlude 2: Piggot**  
Emily Piggot was just about to shut down her computer in preparation of leaving for the night when an alert popped up indicating a new e-mail had arrived. Against her better judgment she decided to check it.

She didn't immediately recognize the e-mail address until she read the tittle line. Vigilant had told her a few weeks ago about a new and mysterious cape that had contacted him through one of the social media sites he utilizes inquiring on her own quality of character and contact information. He had provided the cape with Piggot's public e-mail as per protocols and kept her abreast of any developments. She had actually been curious after she read the chat logs he'd provided her of their online encounters. The cape, Skitter, had even indicated that the investigation into 'corruption' within the PRT would be complete by the end of the month. Despite the security issues such an allegation and the independent investigation would likely indicate she smiled as the message from 'SkitteringInTheShadows' loaded wondering if the cape created it specifically to make it easy for her to recognize.

Director, I apologize for taking so long to contact you. In case it hasn't been made clear by the obvious e-mail address and what Vigilant likely told you I'm Skitter and I've been investigating one of your subordinates.I however did somewhat mislead Vigilant. It's not an investigation into an officer for corruption, I'm' here to provided evidence of a particular Ward who's not following your rules. I figure I don't actually need to state their name, in either identity for you to correctly guess the subject of my investigation.  
I'll have everything ready to turn over to you personally by 6pm Friday. My phone (number in attachment for security purposes) will be on from that time onward, call to set up a place and time. If for whatever reason you decide not to call at that time, I'll seek other means of dealing with this. I don't need to say how bad that could end up for all involved.

Emily sucked in a breath. Skitter was an odd one. Giving a phone number to contact her at was extremely naive usually, but when she checked the attachment image file the number was obviously for a prepaid cellphone. Piggot bet that Skitter didn't intend to even turn the cellphone on until the listed time. What worried her wasn't the nearly veiled threat at the end but the fact that this Skitter claimed knowledge of her target's civilian identity. That worried her because she had no idea how Skitter knew what they did. Well as they say, knowledge is power, and she had access to some very peculiar knowledge herself.

She checked the ward's duty roster. As she expected Kid Win was still sequestered within his workshop working on his 'next big thing.' The boy had been logging far more hours lately then she was comfortable with for a minor. That didn't stop her from dialing the extension for his workshop. On the fourth ring Kid Win answered the goggles he was wearing was the only part of him that wasn't dirty. The grin on his face didn't disappear when he saw her own countenance, "Director, calling to tell me to go home?"  
"Not really, but you should tie things off for the night. I was about to leave myself," she explained, "That was before I got an e-mail from a new cape. I want to borrow your mind for a moment."  
"Alright, I'll do what I can."  
"Does the codename Skitter ring any bells?" Emily asked the Ward. As soon as she said the name the boys grin dropped. That worried Piggot more then she'd admit, she'd been able to chastise him before and that silly grin managed to stay on his face.  
"It does. My last go around Skitter was a villain who joined the Undersiders. Let's see…" he rubbed his chin as he tried to focus on a set of memories that had been fading ever since he triggered nearly a year ago, "I recall her taking over territory, becoming the leader of the Undersiders, Director Tagg publicly outed her."  
"She? And Tagg outed her?" Piggot couldn't keep the surprise out of her voice. Outing capes was… bad. Sure she believed that the unwritten rules of capes were somewhat more flexible if you weren't a cape yourself; but she knew there were lines you just down cross even then. When it came to secret identities the best way to use them against a cape was to tell them you knew who they were under their mask, privately. They might not like it, but they'd respect you for your discretion on the matter.  
"Yeah, a girl my age if I remember right. I can't recall her real name but by the time she was outed she was basically in control of Brockton Bay. The fucked up thing was he outed her in school where she could have taken hundreds of students hostage."  
"Did she?"  
"No, she asked them to help her escape. And they did because she was well regarded by the civilians despite being a villain," the tinker explained. Piggot didn't like the sound of that, nor for that matter the grudging respect creeping into her Ward's voice.  
"It's weird. I can't nail it down but I remember her being more heroic then some of our members. Throwing herself into battles she shouldn't be able to win to protect people, her territory recovered the fastest after the Endbringer attack, and stuff like that.  
"She turned herself in shortly after being outed and Tagg called in Alexandria to help interrogate her. It backfired." Kid Wins face turned solemn as he spoke.  
"Backfired?"  
"From what I understand Alexandria tried to break her resolve and end up breaking her restraint. She killed Alexandria and Tagg. And then she still turned around and joined the Wards."  
"How? How'd she kill someone who's as invincible as Alexandria? For that matter how'd she turn Ward afterward?"  
"I don't remember. Or I wasn't there for that part I'm not sure. Honestly I'm surprised I was able to recall so much. It's usually harder. But I recall the Undersiders and Wards clashed often enough; maybe it's because of how familiar I was with them by the time I died? I don't know."

"If you don't mind, what's going on, ma'am?"  
"Skitter appeared about three weeks or so ago. She helped Vigilant apprehend Starlight. Since then she's only appeared once to meet with Testament for some training with her powers. And now she contacts me informing me of an investigation she's been conducting into one of my people."  
"That. That doesn't sound right. I mean I don't remember her even appearing until like March or something."  
"She identified herself to Vigilant as a hero. Perhaps this world's version of Skitter is more naturally good?"  
"God, that would be awesome. I still have nightmares about fighting her," Kid Win's response was so quick and automatic that the director felt the corners of her mouth tug up in response to the honest comment. He wasn't the only one who hoped this new cape was heroic; if possible Piggot wanted this Skitter as one of her Wards.  
"And on the subject of dreams, pack it up and go home. I seem to recall there being school tomorrow," Piggot stated before ending the call. She made a note to ask Clockblocker about Skitter when the former came in tomorrow. The two Wards were both reincarnated; Piggot went to them whenever her own memoires, as hazy as they were, stirred as they all shared the same previous life. She knew there were other 'second lifers' out there and not many of them actually shared the same previous life. On occasion there'd be someone who'd make an off handed comment that would reveal that nature or especially in the case of parahumans went mad with the twin memories.

Emily had done some research, covertly of course, and she had concluded that in normal humans the previous life's memories started to 'decay' when you were born so most normal humans wouldn't even recall the previous set by the time they'd be intelligent enough to act on them; she only had hazy half-rememberings of the previous life and she had an exceptional memory. In capes however they typically had the previous life's memories recalled in full when they triggered and those memories decayed substantially slower. It seemed that the corona pollentia, the part of the brain that only a fraction of the population had and enabled the potential for powers, was the place this second set of memories were stored…or something.

She flipped off her monitor after setting the computer to shut down and decided to push all thoughts of capes, work, and so forth out of her mind and just focus on having a peaceful drive home and rest.

-/ **Author Notes**:

This chapter took a lot longer to write mostly because I initially tried to write 'and this is what happened the next day' and then I started jumping around randomly both in the events of that day and how long had passed between chapter breaks. Further the chapter mostly set up, clumsy set up at that. I mean exposition dumps are pretty much guaranteed to happen when you're setting a universe of any sort but I feel that I used flashbacks and exposition dumps in Taylor's thoughts too much in this chapter. I mean, how many times did Taylor get sidetracked with her thoughts in this chapter alone? It makes the whole chapter feel…lacking but in a way that's not easy to peg down and fix without too great of a sacrifice of time and energy.

To put things in perspective I mainly write in bursts, spewing out al an entire chapter in one go before coming back later and editing it. The first chapter took three days to turn out in the form I originally posted it in. Most of that was in editing the previous day's narrative spring. I'd sit down edit the previous day's work and then let mind hit paper and see what happened. This chapter wasn't like that it was more like fitting jigsaw pieces together then writing a narrative. From here however I've got a vague notion of where I'm going but the path is rather malleable.

So… until someone mentioned it I didn't know there was an actual term for the whole rebirth plot device (I should have known better, TVTropes has a term for everything). I initially came up with the idea of using the peggy sue trope because of the name Taylor is given in the last Arcs of Worm. Khepri among other things is a god of rebirth. Yeah. You can thank Wikipedia for the idea.

Thanks for the reviews, for some reason the last two or three reviews only appeared in my e-mail inbox; weird. Keep them coming I do enjoy you guys input here.

Proof, I edited chapter one, mainly in the formatting which I agree was horrible. I'll explain it as I explained elsewhere what you guys got subjected to was pretty much how the chapter was written in Word. Word's margins and page breaks definitely help with the readability of things, and not all of my formatting carried over. This site (and the internet as a whole?) doesn't allow for indents (used to offset the chat logs and e-mail), different text sizes (for the titles), and most annoyingly scrubs empty lines and repeated "-" (which I used for section breaks and offsetting titles respectfully)

I've had comments about Taylor not being Taylor like enough. For example she's 'too trusting' in telling Vigilant about her powers. But really in that case her disclosing that she can 'sense' through the swarm was a lead up to her stating that she was 'over a block away.' She's giving information to shape others view of her after all here's what she gave them to work with, "she can sense through the swarm, but not all of the senses translate well so it's not like she can see with thousands of eyes. She can remotely operate the swarm from at least a block away if she's in civilian guise there's likely no way to tell who she is."

Another common complaint was Taylor not flipping out enough. Some of that should have been alleviated with what I added to chapter 1 and events in this chapter. But honestly Taylor does a real good job in Worm of not flipping her lid, especially if she has a task to set herself to and here that's definitely the case here. She might be starting small instead of the large things some want to see but she's putting herself to task.

Any advice on Taylor's characterization is helpful. I've also been told that I'm making characters too strong. Specifically that Vigilant and Starlight are too powerful, and giving Taylor another power and 'clearing up' her swarm sense is too much. So here's some rationale for the folks that are still reading,

In Worm (during the cauldron base segment) we're told by Numberman (whose using a device) that Taylor triggered twice in 'quick succession', I have a hard time believing that based on her powers; sure they're stronger then they appear; but second triggers seem to add a new facet to an existing power. What would that be, her swarm sense? That's pretty much a required secondary power given her power's range. The fact that the Numberman mentions that Cauldron usually uses Contessa to figure out if there's a chance for a second trigger doesn't help matters for me.

That said it's not even the route I'm going here with Taylor. She experienced some extreme situations near the end of Worm before she ends up reliving her trigger event last chapter. Effectively she has a second _first_ trigger when she is reincarnated. As such she gets a second power which I obviously chose to be bio-manipulation, chalk it up to how often she dealt with Panacea or her work I suppose. To accommodate both Taylor's regrets and her power's general theme the power is limited to only affect Arthropods. There's obviously an exception when it comes to her 'read physiology' capability, but hey required secondary powers?

Now consider that in Piggot's interlude I stated that both Kid Win and Clockblocker are 'second-lifers' like Taylor.

Vigilant I can actually understand having some complaints about. At least until I point out that his strength, durability, barrier, and speed perception are all directly tied into his ability to move fast while his 'no need to sleep' is tied into the precog capability. His strength and durability are the requisites for his speed, the barrier is needed to protect from micro impacts when moving at speed, and his perception is directly tied to his speed so that he can 'correctly' interact with the world. He doesn't need sleep to counter the fact that since his precog power has no off button he'd never be able to sleep anyway.


	3. Chapter 3: Predatory Actions

-/** Chapter 3: Predatory Actions** /-

Friday found me the same way that every other day since I triggered had. I gasped for breath as I shot up in bed. My breath was ragged. Fuck my life, I couldn't even have a lustful dream about Brian anymore without him suddenly ending up bleeding out from a gut wound…or spontaneously being torn apart to decorate the walls of the setting like a certain meat locker. I swallowed bile and I forced myself to keep my dinner down.

I gurgled water a few times before I headed downstairs while trying to get my hands to stop shaking. It was almost an hour before Dad was going to get up. I sent a few bugs into his room to act as an early warning system as I entered the basement. Dad never went in here or at least he hadn't since I moved the widows in, I could get a sense from them about what occurred while I had been asleep or away. Their memories never included my dad, or for that matter anything larger than themselves, coming down here. Still he might get suspicious if he found I was spending any length of time in the basement.

I pulled out all the components of my costume and slipped into it to test the fit again. The body suit had been completed Thursday afternoon before I headed out to my Krav Maga lessons. I only had to dye the armor panels and reattach them to the black costume. Unlike the original Skitter outfit I actually did have some color beside the yellow lens of my mask. While the chitin was largely splotched grey, a dark reddish-brown served as a highlight color to add even more depth to the plating.

The gloves and boots were both separate from the bodysuit and ridiculously long, extending past the elbows and knees respectfully where they fastened directly to the chitin plating covering my thighs and upper arms by way of snap-style buttons that locked in place with a twist. There were additional sets of snaps across the plating and body suit in strategic locations that could be used to either attach heavier plating or bandoleers should I ever need them. Granted neither was actually made…yet so the covers I made to hide them when not in use, little more than a button with chitin over it to match where it was being set, were instead in place. It was practically impossible to spot them.

The reason the boots and gloves were so long was to both provide additional protection by way of the doubled layers of spider silk on the limbs and also because I already had ideas for alternative boot and gauntlet designs scribbled down in my hero journal. The mask was similarly going to be revised soon-ish. My spiders were already working on a second set of gloves and mask replicating the layered design that my boots and bodysuit had from when I was able to switch to Darwin's bark spider silk.

After I got out of the costume and back into my night clothes I and pulled out the sash I had been wearing as part of my costume at Peerless. I unfolded it so it'd be the hooded shawl it actually was and wrapped it around my head to secure my hair before going to work dyeing the plating. The last thing I wanted was getting dye in my hair.

As I did I checked my latest 'experiment' in bug modification. The 'weaver wasps,' as I was calling them, were not only still alive but also healthy two days after the modifications I made to some wasp workers from the nest I had going over in the Grovers'. So that step had been a success; next would be modifying the queen I had here to spawn an entire colony of these new bugs. Weaver wasps were basically a cross between wasps and arachnids. They had spinnerets that produced high quality silk and while they lacked stingers to make room for the spinnerets, they could still inject venom only now though a bite like a spider using hard-shelled chelicerae. Other modifications was adding another set of legs to give them the eight legs of a spider, enhanced their durability by way of a harder exoskeleton, and made them even stronger fliers than was necessary to offset the changes in mass. In the past I had utilized spiders to produce silk cord and flying bugs either carrying the cord or the spider itself all in order to fabricate and deploy the webbing to restrain targets. These weaver wasps were an evolution of that tactic, now I'd have fliers capable of generating silk on demand.

* * *

When the bugs in my dad's room started to hear his alarm clock go off in its monotone droning and he himself replied by slapping the small device I had just finished extricating myself from the basement. So as he went about his morning abolitions I did as a good daughter should and started breakfast hoping the smell of bacon, eggs, and sausage would hide the scent of the dyes I was using on my costume downstairs. The smell wasn't as bad or as obvious as the chemicals I used to treat the carapaces, but it was still noticeable enough for me to worry. Dad came down hair still damp form the morning shower around the time I started setting the table.

"What's that smell?"  
"The sausage?"  
"Sausage doesn't smell like…Lysol," Dad elaborated, "I think it's coming from the basement."  
"I smelled something when I woke up; turned out to be a dead rat in the basement. I got rid of it and cleaned the area maybe I used too much cleaner?"  
"Smells like it. So you woke up before me again?"  
"Yeah."  
"More nightmares?" Dad ventured.  
"Last night's started off pleasant enough…but yeah." I glanced at him as I carried the now completed meal to the table. I had obviously cooked too much but my dad didn't say anything. We'd just throw the left overs into a Tupperware container and either Dad would take it with him to work as lunch or I'd eat it when I got home from school.

* * *

After he left for work I was able to finish dyeing the last of my armor panels and left them out to dry during the day. All that was left to complete my costume was to attach all the parts, I already had my evidence stored in a second hand duffel bag I had bought in the market the other day. The bolts I had collected were secured in evidence bags that Testament had provided during my last training session with him.

Everything was going according to plan when I left the house for school so of course I just knew the school day was going be just gr…crap. Really I was waiting for the universe's sick humor to kick in. That said I felt like I couldn't be touched anyway. Not emotionally anyway, nothing the girls could do could ruin my day because if everything went well with a certain PRT director I wouldn't have to deal with Sophia for much longer. I might not have to deal with any of them for much longer. When I thought about it I had even more to be happy about. I was getting along well with Dad, I had a budding friend forming with Felix, I was doing better than average at Peerless, and later today Skitter would make her first appearance in full costume.

Like I said, it only made sense that if everything was going so well for me that something would go wrong. The other shoe would drop so to say. This came in the form of a shock when I ate my lunch in the girl's bathroom. I blinked in surprise as grape and orange soda was spilled all over me and my thankfully closed and water proofed backpack. The shock wasn't because it was happening, but because it was happening now. This particular 'prank' was almost three months early. I must have sounded insane when I laughed in response.

"Uh, Taylor?" Emma asked from the other side of the stall door, her voice actually sounded worried.  
"I think she's finally lost it," Madison said a little surprised. Had they thought that they'd been tormenting so long there was no way I'd actually lose it now? That I had become some sort of emotionless plaything they could kick without regret? Granted I did feel like I was inoculated to what they could do.  
"Very funny. I didn't see that one coming at all," I said between chuckles as my laughter died down.

They didn't even try to stop me from leaving the stall and as I cleaned my glasses, furtively turning on the surveillance features in the process, I decided to see just how much they knew and needle them a bit, "So Emma? Do you know who your dad's current client is?"  
"No?" She admitted in a questioning tone. Of course not, she was too busy with her social life, modeling, this bullying campaign, and beneath the bleacher rendezvous with Mark Jensen taking up her rather short attention span to care what else could be occurring at her house. I noted that Sophia hadn't said a word, but her eyes betrayed her; she was suspicious. Was she recalling our encounter while she was in costume? Did she wonder if I had the preverbal balls to attack a cape, an obvious villain even, why I hadn't stood up to them? She had been rougher in her attacks on me since that day; it actually made for real good evidence.  
"My dad. We're suing the school because of the whole locker bit," I finally said as I noticed there were two other girls in the restroom with us watching the scene unfold a discreet distance away. Hello bystanders. I also noticed how each of the terrible trio reacted to the admission. Sophia glared at me in a very Shadow Stalker-like way, Madison went absolutely pale, and Emma reacted like I had slapped her…with my gauntlet, "Oh relax. My dad doesn't even know it's you three that were responsible for it."

They did. Hilariously, they all relaxed to such a notable degree that anyone who watched the video from my glasses would know they had indeed been behind it. I retrieved my backpack and left the restroom and soon after the school grounds itself without another word, a grin I couldn't quite hide playing out on my lips.

* * *

The grin stayed on my face the entire way home…well mostly. It was a little unnerving that they weren't following the sequence of pranks they pulled on me last time around. Was it because I had changed things? I knew I was more resilient not rising to bait or giving them the payoff of seeing me brake down. Did that passive resistance in turn cause them to try other ideas that they wouldn't have thought up until later because they viewed their current line up ineffective?

Or was it something else. After all things were not exactly the same as my past life in the world at large. There was a great deal of divergence between the two and it made me wonder about what else I assumed would be the same wasn't. Would the Leviathan attack occur here? Would the Slaughterhouse come to town? Would any of the events I knew come to pass? Okay so by the time I got home I wasn't grinning anymore.

I also realized that besides the obvious getting cleaned up I only really had experimenting with my powers to keep me occupied until I was supposed to turn on the disposable phone so Piggot could call me. I really didn't want to give myself a migraine before going to that meeting. I'm not sure what possessed me to do it but I pulled out the cell phone that I used as part of my costume and sent Felix a quick text asking if she was in school. I honestly didn't know why but I always assumed she was on the older side of the high school age range.

When I came out of the shower almost half an hour later – it took that long to get my hair cleaned- Felix had responded. She didn't have classes on Fridays. Which meant she was in college? That made her a little older than I guessed she was. A short text conversation later and my day turned back to being…awesome. Felix was coming over.

While I waited for her to arrive I went ahead and added today's events to my journal and the video my glasses caught to the veritable mountain of evidence I had to hand over to Piggot. It was almost an hour after I had left school that I was alerted to Felix's approach, she was humming as she reached the porch. I wrote a warning in my bugs about the first step, she skipped over the step as I opened the door and the small collection of bugs I used disappeared under the pouch.

"Hey Taylor."  
"Hey…I don't actually know your real name…" Without the mask it was obvious that Felix was older then me, she had that look about her. Prettier too. Her hair was the same blackish grey as her were-form's fur and I noticed that the luchador mask she normally wore at Peerless hid a birthmark on her cheek that would have made it almost trivial to identify her by.  
She chuckled as I let her in. As she looked over the living room she said, "I was always masked when we talked so I'm not surprised. I'm Sara, no 'h.' Sara Holden."  
"You know. I wasn't even sure how old you are. Actually I still don't know."  
"I'm nineteen. I started college right out of high school," I could see the realization hit her even before she asked, "I never actually learned your age. But I know you're supposed to be in school."  
"I'm fifteen and skipped after getting drenched with soda."  
"Orange, grape, and strawberry?" She asked incredulously. I was somehow not surprised that her sense of smell was that good. She probably retained the sense because it could be convenient.  
"The strawberry's my shampoo."  
"Oh. So…I didn't know you had enough fine control of your bugs to write words with them. What's wrong with that first step anyway?"  
"It's rotted out. We've never bothered to replace it and I guess if someone was to try to break in through the front it'd serve as an early warning device," I explained as I lead us into the kitchen, "as for my bugs, you'd be surprised just how fine control I have over them. If I wanted to I could make them dance…I would use a specific dance as an example but most dances don't exactly translate well."  
Sara laughed at that, "I can imagine."

We fell into a companionable silence after that Felix, well Sara right now, got herself something to drink and besides asking were the cups were we didn't speak for a minute or two before I broke the silence, "My costume's pretty much done. Want to see?"  
"Sure. If it looks anything like what you've been wearing in class it's going to be badass."  
"It is," I said proudly as I lead the way down into the basement. One of the oddities of our house was the idiot electrician that wired everything put the light switch for the basement at the base of its stairs instead of the top like most houses add to that the way the stairs were situated and it made the trip down somewhat dangerous due to the semi darkness that prevailed even with the light on in the kitchen.  
"Holy shit," Sara said when she reached the base of the stairs. When I turned to her I noticed she had turned her eyes catlike on the way down, no doubt so see where she was going. Her green eyes were vibrant with eye shine and comically large. It took me a few moment to realize why she'd frozen like that.  
"The spiders?"  
She nodded.  
"I control all bugs within my power's reach, remember? You don't have to fear them any more then you do me," I assured before flipping on the lights.  
"They're huge," she said before making another surprised noise and adding, "and black widows?"  
"They were black widows before I modified them. Even if I wasn't here they wouldn't bite."  
"Modified them?"  
"Yeah, they produce more silk, are larger and sturdier, and most importantly for you I'm sure, I've drastically changed their instincts. They don't bite humans, or at least she shouldn't ever bite humans."  
She finally tore her eyes off the spiders that were lounging on the massive webs that covered every corner of the basement to look at me, "Your power lets you modify bugs?"  
"Yeah. I never told you or Sensei that did I?" I queried. A shake of the head later I added, "Sorry, It doesn't come into play in hand to hand combat so I guess it never seemed necessary to share."  
"I…yeah…I guess"

"I never thought about how it'd look to someone who isn't me. Dad hasn't come down here in ages so I never had to worry about that. And well there's even less reason for anyone else," I said as striped down to my underwear. Well, I actually had the skin tight spandex shorts and sports bra I was going to wear under my costume on too but whatever. It was basically my underwear.  
"Somehow I didn't think you showing me your costume meant you were going to be stripping in front of me," the nineteen-year-old said as she turned her attention elsewhere.  
I laughed at that as I pulled the body suit on, "Sorry. Should have said something. But the costume just doesn't look right unless it's actually being worn. Though I'd guess that'd be the case with any costume and I obviously don't have a mannequin to use to model it."  
"Yeah, I get it. Trust me I get it. I just wasn't expecting it," Holden said as I watched her through a few of my resting spiders and noticed her take interest in the group that were more active, "What are the spiders here doing?"  
"They are weaving what will be a second pair of gauntlets and mask. I already have some other ideas I want to try out for my costume."  
"Yeah?" Felix asked sounding somewhat surprised. I wasn't sure why, I guess she thought that capes never really changed their costume's design unless it was absolutely necessary. And in part it was true; even if you were a tinker your costume always had certain elements so that you could be easily identified by others while fully geared. After all it would be awkward for people to constantly be asking you if you were a new cape.  
"Yep. I can massively change the physiology of arthropods to the point they aren't recognizable. Those spiders are pretty much simple compared to some of the things I've tried," I called the group of weaver wasps over to land in front of her, they weren't as drastic of a modification as what I could do given what I had done under Testament's tutelage, but it served to prove my point, "The bugs I just landed in front of you combine traits of wasps and spiders. They've got spinnerets instead of stingers and their bite is venomous. And they aren't even the biggest modification give done testing that power."  
"What was?"  
"Well I made a spider the size of my hand and then turned around and gave the thing human fingers for legs."  
"eww."  
"Agreed. But what I'm getting at is that I might be able to make bugs that functions as part of my costume. Imagine if my claws were a living bug and the claws were tipped in retractable stingers so I could poison my target every time I landed a claw attack. Or maybe a muscle overlay that could enhance my physical strength allowing me to crush things caught in my grasp or deliver blows as strong as a jackhammer."  
"That sounds awesome. Weird, but awesome."  
"Exactly. And to top it off if any of those organic components were damaged I could repair them even easier than this costume," I stated as I pulled my mask down over my face, "So what do you think?"

Sara turned to me and paused. Her eyes roamed up and down my silk clad form. If I didn't know how badass my costume looked I'd be wondering if it came out a bit embarrassing. Or if she was checking me out though that didn't mesh with her embarrassment of my stripping down a few moments ago.

The black silk base looked complex almost gothic in the level of detail that was created by the various panels of silk. I had arranged the panels to make sharp powerful lines that accentuated the body with thinner lines crisscrossing the larger ones like the strands of a spider's web; not in a traditional web pattern, per say, but invoking it just the same. I even had time to apply the same effect to the mask and gauntlets so they wouldn't stick out against the body suit's more intricate design so that when everything was in place it was almost impossible to tell that the entire costume wasn't a single piece. The chitin armor panels were more impressive looking then before. It was all sharp compound edges, organic irregularities, and durable looking. Thanks to new techniques I used, the plating was surprisingly even light, still heavier than my old costumes given there was far more chitin in the armor panels make up than before and provided coverage for almost half again as much of the costume. Even the inorganic parts like the goggles were expert looking. The goggles were separated from the chitin around it by a thick heavy weave of silk that looked like folds of black flesh making it appear all that much more like the goggles were actual bug eyes.

"Wow" Sara said, "I don't suppose I could get you to make me a new mask?"  
I laughed in response, "I think I can. We might need to sketch some stuff out though."

* * *

When Dad came home at four thirty he found Sara and me in the living room watching Pirates of the Caribbean and eating popcorn. Sara had been extremely serious about having popcorn while watching movies and proceeded to go through the cabinets until she found said popcorn. To my surprise it wasn't past the used by date. I can't remember when the last time we ate popcorn was.

"They should have stopped at the third movie," Sara said seriously before popping another crenel into her mouth, "I mean Johnny Depp is awesome as Sparrow, but the character just doesn't work as a lead."  
"Hi Dad," I called to him as he walked into the room and slowly took in the scene before him. We were both on the couch. I sitting like a normal person while Sara had opted to lay across the entire thing, to accomplish this with me on the sofa as well she scissored her legs placing one behind my back and the other across my lap. Despite the fact her knees were even with my stomach we somehow ended up comfortable.

While I didn't want to I knew I needed to let him know I had skipped so he wouldn't be caught off guard in case the school called about it, "Dad. I skipped my after lunch classes at school today."  
"Why?" He sounded upset at that. I briefly wondered if he was more upset at my skipping school or the most likely reason for it.  
"The terrible trio gave me a soda shower at lunch," I elaborated.  
Dad sighed and nodded, "I understand then. I can't imagine the prospect of walking around school like that would be any fun. …How bad was it?"  
"I..." I looked to Sara I hadn't really tried to clean my clothes; I figured they were a lost cause. Sara on the other hand had taken them the second she heard about it and went to work on them.  
"I threw them in the wash before we started, they might need another round before all of the stains come out," she said with a easy smile that hinted at how little doing something like that for me bugged her. It was pretty much when she cast that casual smile that I realized something. Sara was the first person since Emma to ever hang out with me at home. Moreover she was the only person since Emma's betrayal to be someone I could really call a friend.

Luckily my thoughts were disrupted before they could find a dark avenue to travel down when my dad asked, "So Taylor, are you going to introduce me to your friend?"  
"Oh. Sorry Dad. This is-"  
"Sara Holden. I'm in Taylor's class at Peerless" She interrupted, "You might not immediately recognize me since I'm not wearing my usual mask. The one with cat ears."  
Dad tensed at the admission. He likely expected that capes' secret identities were meant to be closely guarded secrets, and not be casually given out like she had. He'd be right most of the time. He practically breathed out his response, "You're Felix."  
"Only when in costume, but yes," she replied casually, "I couldn't very well come over and hang out with Taylor in costume without drawing undue attention."  
"Given she just puts on that mask, I think you'd figure it out sooner rather than later," I added.  
"You make it sound like I'm Kenting."  
"Kenting?"  
"You know Superman's paper thin disguise?"  
"Oh right."  
"Honestly I'm not that bad."

* * *

Emily Piggot was not in a good mood as she watched the clock on the wall slowly tick away. Vigilant had gotten into an altercation with Empire Eighty-Eight and lost his left arm to Hookwolf. All he and Velocity had to show for it was a pair of nobody capes that they had captured. The capes weren't even that notable, just a Brute 2 and a Shaker 1 whom hadn't even been on the PRT's radar.

And that wasn't even the extent of her day, something in Kid Win's workshop had exploded and Armsmaster was still ensconced with the young tinker within to figure out and prevent whatever happened from occurring again. Atop of that there was the fallout from White Knight's rampage that was still being felt and now she had to make contact with a relatively unknown but potentially very dangerous cape.

The clock struck six pm and Emily dialed the number she'd been provided. The other end had barely rung once when it was picked up. That meant Skitter had been waiting for the phone call to come as well, good.

"Director Piggot I presume," a chorus of noise said. Not much scared Piggot after Ellisburg, but the inhuman quality of the voice sent a shiver down her spine she'd never admit to having felt.  
"Correct. Skitter?"  
"In deed and the flesh," the voice responded oddly. Emily hoped this cape wasn't insane, insane was hard to predict.  
"Your e-mail said you have evidence to turn over to me."  
"Yes. There's a parking garage three blocks south of the PRT headquarters. I'll be waiting for you."  
"For me."  
"For you personally. I have no problem with you bringing two capes as an escort, but no PRT squad should be within a block of the garage. And preferably I'd like to know at least one of the capes you're bringing. So Aegis, Vigilant, or Testament. Failure to comply with these requests means I disappear and the media gets a hold of this evidence."

There was a long pause while Piggot considered her options. Skitter obviously didn't know Vigilant was injured or that Testament hadn't answered his phone in the past forty eight hours, likely meaning he wasn't in city limits. That left her with Aegis, the Ward was on monitor duty right now but Vista was also in the building so they could swap.

"Am I demanding too much?" the legion of sound asked conveying a surprising amount of worry for what it was.  
"No, I'd like to know how you know Aegis though. I'm already aware of your connections to the Protectorate members," she stated buying herself time to consider everything.  
"We have classes together."  
Piggot froze, "_Skitter knows more than just Shadow Stalker's identity._"  
"Oh. That sounded," Skitter quickly said before pausing and elaborating, "I meant we have the same classes at Peerless Martial Arts."  
Emily audibly sighed cursing herself for doing so immediately afterward. She went over the details again. Aegis would have to do, so someone with more range would be a good compliment. Miss Militia, She could also carry containment foam grenade rounds that could disable and contain the cape; if she guessed right that was the reason Skitter didn't want PRT forces too close by, "Okay. I'll play along."  
"Good. With the current traffic I'm guessing it'd take three minutes to get to the garage, so let's say six minutes to get here assuming you're people are already in the building."  
"They are. That's a reasonable time table," Piggot stated even as her mind added, "S_he's already at the garage._"  
"Good. I'll see you in about six minutes starting…now," the phone line went to dial tone.

Piggot made the necessary calls as she pulled on her coat. In just under two minutes one of the PRT boxes were rolling out of the garage. Aegis was driving to give Miss Militia time to load containment foam grenades into her weapon, "So Director what is this about?"  
"Your friend Skitter wants to meet."  
"Skitter?" Aegis asked, "She told me outright on Wednesday that she wasn't going to even consider joining the Wards until she made a name for herself."  
"She has apparently collected some items we may be interested in."  
"Items?"  
"Evidence that Shadow Stalker isn't following the rules we laid down for her."  
Aegis cursed under his breath as he turned into the parking garage. He slowed down drastically, "Where now?"

As if to answer his question a swarm of bugs collected in front of the vehicle and formed an arrow.  
"I guess that way," Miss Militia said.

The arrow kept pace with Aegis turning this way and that like one from a GPS device until it disappeared as they arrived on the fourth floor of the five floor structure. Bugs swarmed across the cars of the parked vehicles, the walls, ground and ceiling of the structure. There had to be millions, maybe hundreds of millions, to coat this much surface area so densely. A clear showing of the power the cape commanded in this situation. The director was already considering a higher number than she'd initially assumed for Skitter's Master rating.

"Out," the swarm ordered.  
Piggot didn't like this scenario; she had expected the cape to be on the top floor so she could see the roofs of the nearby building in order to keep track of possible PRT squads. The team she had dispatched to a vantage point wouldn't be able to see them here. Emily steeled herself and said, "You heard her."  
Aegis killed the engine before they disembarked. Once they had Piggot demanded, "Now your turn; show yourself."

A good forty feet from where they stood, the swarm covering the floor and ceiling bulged, extending towards one another like cave formations. A pair of yellow eyes appeared within the mass just before the swarm exploded outward from the mass and forming a dense cloud of bugs in a ten foot radius from the bug covered cape. Piggot wondered for a moment how Skitter had pulled the entrance off. She knew that the girl had appeared in a similar manner when she first met Testament and briefly wondered if she could teleport through the swarm or turn her body into a mass of bugs.

"You have evidence of these wrongdoings by Shadow Stalker."  
"I never specified that it was her, but yes. Sophia Hess, aka Shadow Stalker, has been a very poor example of a hero over the course of the last month and if my source is to be believed has been a poor excuse for a human being at least another year and a half more," The cape clarified.  
"Source?"  
"Taylor Herbert. A student at Winslow High and Sophia's primary victim while in her civilian guise."  
"Victim?" Aegis asked, "She's in one of the classes at Peerless. I can't see her being much of a victim the way she fights."  
"I'm aware she attends as well. She was the one who referred me to Nakamura. The entire reason she's been throwing herself so recklessly into martial arts is because of the bullying she's been subjected to since '09."  
"Wait she's been bullied for years?" Miss Militia asked incredulously, "Why hasn't she taken this to the faculty?"  
"I believe they've turned a blind eye to it since they know Ms. Hess is Shadow Stalker. That's not the worst of it either; she's been utilizing lethal ammunition in her crossbows."  
"You said you had evidence to back up these accusations. Where is it?" Piggot asked.

"Before that I thought it best that you know what we expect in the wake of this. I personally want to see Shadow Stalker removed from the Wards and face the consequences of her actions. I don't care if this is done publicly or not. Additionally I want you to get something going to make sure something like this bullying can't happen again, not just here but across the country. No Ward should be given such preferential treatment from authority figures. It's sickening.  
"Taylor on the other hand wants to be transferred out of Winslow to Arcadia. She's lost faith in that school's faculty and I can hardly blame her. As for why Arcadia; the students treat one another with a greater deal of respect in no small part due to the knowledge of Wards attending the school. Finally she hopes that you'd lean on the Winslow itself to punish the other members of Sophia's little power trio and to resolve an outstanding lawsuit between the Herberts and Winslow. In the Herberts' favor, of course."

"Wait. Lawsuit?"  
"Her father is suing the school after Taylor had a psychotic episode following being shoved into a waste filled locker. Unfortunately I wasn't investigating Shadow Stalker at the time so the only information on this 'locker incident' is in Taylor's journals and medical records you could pull from the hospital," The flag wearing heroine looked sick with just the thought of such an event occurring without reprisal.  
"I'll do everything I can if the evidence leads me to believe your previous statements," Piggot said. Her voice was even but the anger she herself felt over the misconduct of her Ward was visible through her clinched fists.

The bug-themed cape nodded and a section of the swarm between them receded revealing a full size duffel bag that had obviously seen better days, "This bag contains three crossbow bolts fired from Shadow Stalker's weapon. One I retrieved after encountering Shadow Stalker engaging some E88 members the other two Taylor recovered when she was caught in a battle between Shadow Stalker and Grue of the Undersiders on Wednesday. Grue had used Taylor as a hostage and when the girl escaped his grasp Shadow Stalker fired both the bolts Ms. Herbert recovered. One of which she pulled out of the villain after he'd been hit. Taylor's report and video of the event are included. Additionally there is over ten hours of video cataloguing the bullying the girl has been subjugated to, and six note books filled with journal entries detailing every encounter since September of '09 and a flash drive containing my own reports of the events I observed."  
"Sounds comprehensive," Aegis stated.  
"I don't like people, especially capes, who abuse their power," Skitter stated the swarm amazingly able to carry a flat tone in its 'voice.' For the first time she appeared the cape moved appreciably, turning away from Piggot before adding, "If you have questions text the number I gave you. The phone will remain active for the weekend but I'll be too busy to answer a call."

"What are you going to be doing?" Aegis asked curiosity in his voice. The swarm was far more active now having abandoned their positions to buzz around the entire level of the parking garage.  
"Introducing myself to the public and the criminals in particular," She announced before walking away disappearing into the veritable wall of bugs as every insect rushed out of the garage. So numerous were they that the level was temporarily cast in shadow as they blocked both the fading light from outside and the halogen bulbs of the garage. The massive dark comet disappeared down the alleyways.

As Piggot motioned for the Ward to retrieve the bag of evidence Emily reached up and taped her ear bud, "Report."  
"We lost her, the swarm dissipated less than two blocks away. No sight of the target," a member of the PRT team she had maneuvered into position informed her. Piggot sighed and ordered everyone back to headquarters. This was going to be a long evening.

* * *

Five minutes after the last of the PRT element in the neighborhood left I walked out of the parking garage nonchalantly, costume hidden away in my ever present backpack. I had been nervous as all hell when I jumped off the side of the building but the silk cables I had used functioned admirably as rappel lines.

As I had considered using silk as climbing ropes ahead of time my body suit actually incorporated a full body harness in its design. When not actively in use the majority of the harness's spider silk straps looked like parts of the costume's detailing or slipped under the suit's chitin panels. The parts of climbing gear I had to buy, that would be the actual metal components, I had found available in a dark matte grey and seemed like it had been produced just for my purposes. I wasn't dumb about it either; I had done a fair amount of research on various climbing harnesses beforehand and tested my harness before and after sewing it into the costume.

With the sun going down I headed towards the docks to do exactly what I told Aegis I was going to do. During my 'recon runs' through the docks I had singled out a few places to make my debut as a cape and prepared by distributing the types of bugs I wanted to have around and planed the various events in detail. Well as detailed as I was willing to go considering the adage of plans and first contact with the enemy.

A bus ride and a five and a half minute walk later I slipped into an abandoned building I had chosen ahead of time and changed into costume. On the way here I had been building a swarm about half the size of the one I had used for my encounter with the Director and when I added the bugs I had left in this building, giant beetles left over from my costume making, I couldn't help but feel a pang of symphony for those I was about to target.

I walked the block to my target keeping to the shadows of alleys as the swarm covertly positioned themselves where I needed them. My target was a drug house or den or whatever they called the places where a variety of drugs were stored to be distributed to street level dealers but didn't make or refine the 'product.' This particular one was operated by the ABB and, from what I had gathered from my bugs, served as a fairly large distribution center for the ABB's sector of the docks. Already my bugs had identified every person within the building as well as a block around it; a little over a dozen targets. Silk cables were spun as other spiders suspended themselves over targets and ants and other ground bound bugs slipped through the cracks of the ill-maintained warehouse.

I pulled a lesser swarm around me as I exited the alley and brazenly strode towards the building. At the same moment the swarm surged forth; black tendrils whose dimensions were measured in feet snaked out of every alleyway, off rooftops, storm drains, and even some shattered windows. The two gangbangers that were serving as guards in the parking lot were consumed in a cloud of insects before they could draw their weapons. They thrashed and flailed about as the pair tried to fight off my swarm. I couldn't help but consider the action futile, but then again, there wasn't much you could do against a swarm as an ordinary human.

Their screams as my swarm bit and stung raised the alarm. Not a second later the swarm's tendrils hit the windows and sky light of the drug house. My heavy beetles lead the charge; their toughened carapaces and powerful flight muscles providing just enough force to trip the scale in the favor of the swarm. Countless bugs died smashing into the glass but the panes shattered all the same. The chorus of screams became louder as more voices were added. Every person within was subjected to the same terror inducing attack as the various bugs that made up my swarm stung and gnawed at exposed flesh. I took care to not have the venomous members of the swarm inject anything when they attacked; still it was a small mercy for those experiencing it.

My hands shot out striking the watchmen as I casually waded through the cloud in front of the building's entrance. I kicked one in the groin and followed it up with an armored knee to the face as he doubled over. The other caught a back hand to the face that put him down just as quickly. Coils of silk were brought down and my swarm worked to secure them even as I opened the door and entered the site at large.

One of the gangbangers rushed me almost immediately apparently having worked out how futile it was to try to attack the swarm and looking for something more productive to attack. My personal swarm thickened between us and I moved out of his path. The lead pipe he carried sailed through the air where I had been as he screamed out in rage and pain. I kicked his leg out from under him and he fell forward. A larger concentration swarmed over him. He writhed in agony as I relieved him of his cellphone and pressed on.

My swarm was already working on tying everyone up, or in some cases binding particular victims to nearby fixtures. It had taken less than a minute and a half to subdue the entire bunch. Other ABB members who had heard the commotion were already moving towards the site with weapons in hand as I found what I was looking for in the backrooms. I started stuffing stacks of hundred dollar bills into nearby bags. I started with a backpack before moving on to a duffel. I figured I could carry a largish duffel bag and the pack relatively comfortably. Paper got heavy in large amounts and I was going to have to be able to move with the 'proceeds' of this little excursion.

The reinforcements slowed down when they saw the amorphous mass of bugs that was weaving their way in and out of the shattered windows and other openings of the warehouse. I formed a swarm decoy on the roof that glided towards the edge to look down at the oncoming gang members. They hesitated to approach, instead reverting to shouting to one another in languages I didn't understand. At least they did until a heavily armored man approached and made the others fall in line. He drew a sword, a katana if I recalled correctly, and ordered the lot forward.

My swarm exploded forth rushing to meet them like a barbarian horde. The ...samurai swung his sword in arcs that created blasts of wind that literally cut through my swarm wholesale. I switched to stuffing the current bag with one hand as I pulled my requisitioned phone out and went to the internet. A few clicks here and there later I found the samurai cape's Parahumans online profile.

Fēng Lao had the ability to generate 'wind slashes' using any blade that were strong enough to cut though trees but not meaningfully damage stone or metals. He had been one of Lungs lieutenants for the past three years and wore a suit of tinker armor that combined influences from a variety of Asian armor designs, most notably the heavy armor of samurai. The profile picture showed him leading a group of ABB thugs like a general with a saber. I noted that the armor didn't cover the entire body leaving gaps that my swarm could exploit. I wasted no time in doing so drawing a large concentration of bugs to strike at him.

I finished with my looting and carried the ill-begotten gains out through a side door where I stashed them for the time being. I headed towards the fight as my spiders started securing the reinforcements Lao had been able to whip into action. There were so many common spiders nearby one that I decided to actually wrap the poor sucker in a thin cocoon. Another found himself attached to the utility pole by his arm.

Fēng Lao tripped as I approach his legs having been bound by spider silk. He slashed through the threads with his sword. I kicked the blade out of his grip before he could regain his feet. He shouted something at me in what…Chinese? He came rising with a punch the swing telling of augmented strength, likely through his armor. I danced to the side threw a kick into the back of his knee. He lashed out with his hands again, this time I caught him, redirected him and stabbed a claw into his shoulder. The padding or whatever he wore under the armor didn't offer much resistance and I found my hand digging into the muscle. He dropped to his knees making a pained sound and I wrenched the arm behind his back as I pulled my fingers free of the flesh. My swarm immediately went into the exposed flesh aggravating the wound with bites and a few well-placed stings.

The cape grunted through the pain, not opening his mouth to prevent the bugs that had gotten under his helmet from entering. I pulled some of the silk cord I had made ahead of time from my utility compartment and tied him up using his injured arm to control him. To Lao's credit he had stopped struggling as soon as he hand fallen to his knees. He was panting under his mask, worrying me that perhaps he was one of the few that were allergic to the wasps that I had made use of here.

"Are you allergic to wasp stings?" I asked with my swarm.  
He shook his head.  
"Good, that's the worse my swarm delivered," I informed him and I could see him visibly relax at that. He didn't react any further when I put him chest down on the ground and had the spiders in my swarm literally bind him to the ground in a loose sheet of silk.

I left the defeated cape and headed back to where I had stashed the loot while flipping open the appropriated cellphone again and dialing the police. It rang once before it was answered and a woman's voice announced, "Brockton Bay Police Department."  
"There's been a cape fight at 1309 Bradshaw drive in front and within the warehouse. Twenty two ABB gang members have been captured including the cape Fēng Lao. Your people will need wire cutters to extricate some of them and most have suffered varied bug bites and stings," I informed her, the swarm enhancing my voice with their inhuman cadence.  
"Right… and who was the other cape involved, I assume you?"  
"Correct. The name's Skitter," I hung up and tossed the cell phone into an open dumpster before gathering my take and leaving the site. As I left I sent swarm decoys out in various directions. I left one on a roof here or there and generally thinned out my swarm to the better performing bugs by the time I made it back to abandoned building I had changed in.

A literal hole in the wall and a moth eaten sofa served as a good hiding spot for the money. I changed and stuffed some of the cash into my own backpack. As I deposited the remnants of my swarm in the neighborhood I checked a clock in a nearby house using a few flies and learned it was just after eight. I headed home to get some sleep, stashing my phone along the way so the PRT couldn't track me there. With any luck I wouldn't encounter anymore capes over the course of the weekend.

* * *

The next day I headed into the Market to pick up some more things for my life as a cape using some of the money I had requisitioned the night before. Over the course of a few hours I bought a handful of prepaid cell phones, a quality smart phone, several ear pieces, three throat mics, a few pairs of 'smart glass' which had a built in HUD that would be fitted into a future versions of my mask, and other little knickknacks.

I also found a distressed deep brown leather coat that just screamed my dad's name. The only thing was the lining was even more worried to the point it was falling out. Still I bought it and a few minutes later bought some quality padding to add to it. I had after all told myself I'd make my dad some kind of inconspicuous protective wear. I intended to replace the jacket's lining with thick spider silk to make it better than a bulletproof vest while still looking like a vintage leather coat. It would be perfect for Dad.

* * *

It was a little after five o'clock when I slipped into my spider silk and chitin second skin. The swarm I gathered today was closer to matching the few million I had called on the previous day for my meeting with the director and this time I made no attempts to hide it. The vast majority of the swarm flowed around me as my personal barrier between the world and myself. Thick tendrils of bugs slithered and snaked through open windows, storm drains, and preceding me in the streets as I headed towards my target.

My victims of choice tonight were the Merchants. One of the problems with going after them was that they didn't have any kind of uniform except looking like the bottom of the barrel. Still they reacted predictably enough when I came strolling through. They attacked. Some braved the swarm with nothing but an artificial high and a melee weapon to protect them; others fired a variety of cheap guns into the mass. Every now and then someone would use a Molotov or hairspray flame throw in a short lived moment of brilliance. Nothing really made a notable dent in the numbers I was controlling or even the numbers I sent at individuals. It briefly occurred to me that with the sheer weight of numbers at my disposal I could probably kill someone by burying them under the swarm.

I waded in to personally attack a few of their number even as I formed swarm decoys near others to for them to attack futilely. The idea here wasn't just to assault and capture these gangbangers but to make sure they knew it was a strange new cape. Make them fear me, and whisper my name as warning to others of their ilk. And for that a degree of showmanship was necessary. They needed to see me and my swarm to know what to fear or it would take that much longer for that fear to spread.

The Merchants didn't have much in the way of parahuman firepower, so it wasn't the least bit surprising that I didn't encounter a cape on this excursion to the derelict tenement that served as a drug house. Like the previous night I intended to steal a fair portion of the drug money that my swarm had guaranteed me was present. Unlike the ABB, the merchants didn't even try to organize their take in neat stacks of money so I was left to shove rolls of cash into duffels. Ironically the habit of tightly rolling the money probably allowed me to carry more bills in the bags then if they had been in the traditional stacks. Of course I knew I was going to have a much larger variety of bills compared to last night's proceeds. Still I worked diligently as my swarm bound the gang members.

Another point at which this raid differed from the previous outing was that no reinforcements came to try to stop me. I was actually a bit surprised at that. Sure the merchants were smaller in number and likely didn't have a parahuman nearby to rally behind but the gunfire and massive coils of insects should have been noticeable enough. As I zipped up the last bag, a medium sized duffel, and hoisted myself and the three bags I was burdened with off the ground I drew one of the disposable phones I had purchased earlier in the day and dialed the police.

Nothing tried to stop me on my way out either thought I knew eyes were on the building, if you could call it that, so I made a dramatic exit. My swarm exploded out the structure in great coils of bugs before snaking back around to merge with the swarm that cloaked me from view. I traveled almost a block away before I stopped and slipped down into the sewers and storm drains beneath the streets by way of a manhole. Above ground my swarm continued on along the street another block before seemingly dissipating into the air. Most of the useful bugs had either stayed with me or wound back to me after disappearing down storm drains in small numbers.

* * *

I traveled for miles underground before I got to the place I had discovered a week and a half ago. It took a fair bit of force to lever the heavy door open enough so I could slide into the facility that would come to serve as my lair. It was one of many abandoned cape bases that dotted the underground of Brockton Bay. This particular one was more than large enough for my needs and secreted away under the streets of the boardwalk. Given the trophies, plaques, commendations, and general memorabilia one could easily believe the place had once been the headquarters of a superhero team, although a small one given its overall size. It had obviously been abandoned for some time as well; dust was so thick on even the floor that it was almost like snow.

When I first found the place there had been dirty laundry, half-eaten diner, and other things that spoke of a quick abandonment of the facility. I had been understandably curious given this 'abandoned in a hurry' appearance and had investigated what happened to the previous tenants. The answer had taken the majority of a week and several visits to the library and base to discover. The team was the Heroic Five which operated primarily during the sixties and seventies (which explained a great deal of the furnishing choices) and had been wiped out during one of Behemoth's first attacks. Their deaths had served as part of the statistical model that established the Endrbinger's 'instant kill' range. To Parahuman Online's knowledge they left no descendants behind that might have received some sort of alert signal when I took over the base and decided to make it my lair.

There were a total of three entrances into the base, two of which made use of the storm drains. The one I entered, another that connected to a different storm drain that emptied out into the canal, and one that lead into the warehouse overhead. Well it had been a warehouse but some enterprising soul turned it into a club that was one of the boardwalk's major hot spots. Club Venom, as it was named, was actually well liked by both the tourists that swarmed over the boardwalk and the locals. I personally liked it because of the name but that shouldn't be surprising considering it's me we're talking about here.

The primary room of the base, what I expected to be labeled the command chamber or some such nonsense was fairly massive, circular chamber that if I had to guess was just slightly smaller than the average basketball court and about as tall as most indoor court's buildings with a second floor ringing the first before curving into a domed ceiling. The room included a bank of monitors –that largely didn't work- a thick and large round table about seven or eight feet in diameter and the aforementioned memorabilia. Every room in the base connected to this one on one of the two levels. These included A locker room and bathroom combination, a tinker's workshop with an attached armory full of antiquated power armor that the team had worn, bed rooms numbering at six, a hand full of storage rooms, even small garage connected to the canal exit that housed obviously tinker made motorcycles.

Before heading to the market this morning I had moved the previous night's proceeds and a large portion of the bugs still that area here. I added the bags I had with me to the collection that I was making in one of the storerooms. I had little to worry about security wise here, the doors had all been nearly impossible to spot from the outside and required me to make use of the bugs that had taken up residence within the base to get in.

* * *

Visiting my lair reminded me of something else. I traveled down to the edge of the docks still in costume though with only the barest of swarms around me and sticking to alleyways and disused streets. I retrieved the cell phone the PRT had the number for from its hiding place under a dumpster. There was a text waiting for me from Piggot asking me to call her at my earliest convenience.

Situating myself comfortably on the roof of a nearby building by way of a fire escape I called the only phone number in the cell's history. A moment later the Director's voice came over the line, "PRT, Director Piggot"  
"Director, it's Skitter," I informed her, the swarm voice accenting my words as per standard procedure.  
"Oh. Good. I thought you might want to hear it from me first. After paging through the evidence you and Ms. Herbert delivered to me I can tell you Shadow Stalker is going to be discharged from the Wards and end up in juvenile hall for what she's done in costume at least. As soon as I get any verification of some of the events at the school I'll be pressing forward against the civilian side of the problem. When we do I'll be sending an outline of a proposal up the chain of command to keep this sort of abuse from happening again."  
"It's good to hear justice being served. I'm sure Taylor will be pleased to learn of the turn of events as well."  
"I'm going to ask that you don't inform her. The Wards will be showing up at Winslow Monday to follow up and I'd rather her off guard so we can gauge her honest reaction."  
"Understood. I had been planning to cut ties with the girl as soon as the investigation was completed. I see no reason to maintain the relationship now."  
"You don't?" Piggot asked her voice carrying a tone of surprise, "I've been selectively reading the girl's journals. Just from her writing I can tell that her outlook on life improved with your association."  
"I would assume that was because of the fact I was helping her. Not because of my 'wonderful' personality," I stated the bugs managing to sound deprecatingly ironic.  
"Maybe," Piggot's response didn't covey any belief in the idea.

"The day before you asked me about how I knew Aegis. He didn't get in trouble for not mentioning me did he?" I asked trying to pitch the swarm voice to sound somewhat worried. I wasn't really concerned about it but it would suck if he had gotten in trouble for it.  
"No. Part of our agreement with Nakamura is that we don't require any of our people he trains to report on things that occur within the walls of Peerless Kung Fu's dojo. Aegis did tell me a great deal about you afterwards though."  
"Good. Well, I'm glad he didn't get in trouble with you for not sharing that and I expected he'd have to give some kind of report in regards what he knows of my capabilities. I hope his words were more flattering then not."

Piggot chuckled in response. I had a feeling that she was very okay with the idea of Aegis building a rapport with me through our connection at Peerless. She may have even ordered him to try harder. That didn't really bother me since I was pretty cure at some point I would be joining the Ward or if I waited too long, the Protectorate. The oversight might be annoying but having the backing of an organization did help expand that one could accomplish, having a team to work with did as well. I'd get both as a member of either group.

"Speaking of events of the last few days you've been a busy…bee…haven't you?" the PRT Director asked her tone of voice shifting to the serious despite the pun.  
"I have. And I've got another, um, excursion planed for tomorrow using the same general tactics. Do I need to modify my plans?"  
"No. Your raids were far more dramatic then I prefer but you capes are all more dramatic than suits my tastes. I do have some unfortunate news regard your raid on Friday. Fēng Lao escaped in route to PRT holding facilities so he's still on the streets."  
I didn't want to sound…pretentious, but I don't think he was that big of a deal. Of course I didn't tell her that instead opting for a simple, "Thanks for the heads up."  
"No problem; that pretty much covers everything I wanted to inform you of. Did you have anything else?" the director asked and it made me think of the lair I hadn't been able to do much more then move some things around to clear some space for my own stuff. I had the inkling of suspicion that the tinker tech was well beyond what I could hope to deal with. Tones of questions came to mind but I eventually settled for not mentioning any.  
"No, that's all for me too," I stated.  
"Alright; I'll let you get on with your day. Stay safe and stay on the right path, Skitter," the phone hung up almost immediately after.

* * *

I visited Peerless Sunday morning after my daily run. The martial arts studio was generally closed until about noon but given that Gui Nakamura's apartment was actually part of the building I knew there'd be a high likelihood of my sensei being present. He was and he seemed particularly pleased to see me.

"Come in," he instructed. Once we had walked into the main room he asked, "To what do I owe this visit?"  
"I was wanting to change some things," I said unslinging my backpack. Inside it I had my costume, some bugs, and a few other things. It was actually a new pack I had bought Saturday. I was going to be making modifications to some of the backpacks I had gotten my hands on, primarily lining them with wire and spider silk. The wire was there to help it hold its shape so I could store bugs comfortably inside it.  
"Oh?"  
"You've been giving me extremely discounted classes because you know...my situation. I'm now in a position to pay full price for both the classes I've already had and will take in the future."  
"Does this have to do with your debut attacks on the gangs of the bay?"  
"Yeah. I had scouted out the a few places that they use as stash houses and beyond attacking the place and drawing police attention to it I um…confiscated a lot of money."  
"It's called taking spoils. It's covered in the 1947 Vigilante Bills. You should read up on them at your earliest opportunity. Just know that currency can be legally considered a 'spoil of war' so you're generally safe from legal repercussions from taking it," Gui explained.

I let out a sigh of relief as we entered his office; I had no idea if it had been legal to take the money. I definitely needed to look up those laws later. I unzipped the bag and pulled out a neatly folded wad of cash and handed it to Nakamura. He didn't bother counting it or anything; he just put it in his desk drawer.

"That's not all I wanted to talk about Sensei. Yesterday I got a chance to hang out with Felix outside of class. I um, know her without the mask now," I said elaborating, "While we chatted we realized I've never actually explained exactly what all my powers entail."  
"I seem to recall you telling me in pretty graphic detail."  
"Yeah I remember. But that was just when it comes to controlling the swarm. I can also modify the physiology of anything I can control at touch. It's a focus intensive process and I have to obey the law of conservation of matter. But while I can only affect or use mass from members of the swarm, I can add biological systems from other species and manipulate basic aspects of my target. Using the same example I gave Felix of one of my more extreme experiments I made a spider grow to the size of my hand then changed its legs into human fingers."  
If the image I conjured in Nakamura's head bothered him he didn't let it show on his face. Instead he was the portrait of thought, "Why didn't you mention this power before?"  
"It didn't seem pertinent to my training here," I admitted.  
"I see. How have you used this power so far?"  
"I made large beetles to harvest the exoskeleton of for my costume's armor panels; similarly I enhanced a colony of spiders to produce more durable silk in larger quantities to make a stronger costume faster. For combat purposes I've also made larger more durable varieties of certain bugs and mixed the aspects of spiders and wasps to create an airborne web spinner to compliment some of my tactics," I explained drawing out a waver wasp from my bag and having it set down prominently on his desk. I had brought it with me for just this sort of show and tell.  
Nakamura looked the bug over as he asked "And you want me to find some way to apply this capability to your fighting and tactics?"  
"That would be nice, but I also want to bounce ideas off of you on occasion. I recognize the possibility of letting my imagination and this power run wild and producing true monsters. I want you in on things to help me find and not cross the proverbial line."  
"That makes a certain about of sense. Anything I can do for you now?"  
"I… I found myself wanting more ways to render someone unconscious, or at least unable to struggle while my spiders bind them in place."  
"Your costume?" he inquired motioning to my pack. I nodded which resulted in a simple, "Go change."

* * *

Say what you want about Kaiser but the guy is not a moron. Having heard about the attacks on the other gangs' drug houses Kaiser had seen fit to reinforce his own stash houses, well at least the one I was looking at. The building was a small well-maintained apartment complex that looked as if it had never been abandoned and indeed may not have ever been. Not surprising since Empire Eighty-Eight thinks of itself as superior to the other gangs of Brockton bay; not just in strength of arms or what have you but in the superiority of its white supremacist membership. My advanced scouts had already mapped the changes that had occurred since my last covert recon of the place. The house's money stash was in the basement alongside more pounds of 'product' then I wanted to even consider.

It was only two in the afternoon, my previous attacks had been at or near nightfall I was changing things up significantly for this raid. The empire was generally considered to be the most powerful gang in Brockton Bay and I intended to make a very public showing that being big and powerful didn't make you untouchable. I formed a swarm clone in an alley way two blocks away and provided it with a dense nebula of bugs. The swarm itself was of similar size as the ones I had been using the last few days and was congregating in the alleyways and just behind various storm drains in the area. With my preparations nearly complete I turned towards my advanced scouts to listen in on the activity inside the building.

"So what do we do if this crazy cape doesn't show up?" one of the gangbangers asked his compatriot. He looked the part of a mindless E88 drone; white, shaved head, swastika tattoos, wearing a sleeveless shit to show off his many other tattoos despite the cold, and armed. In particular he carried a shotgun.  
His compatriot on the other hand was intelligent enough to wear clothing appropriate for the season and had a full head of hair, though the giant 88 stitched onto the back of his winter coat and the hand gun stuffed into his waistband were clear indicators of his allegiance, "We get to collect a nice bonus for showing up."  
"And if the dude does?"  
"We kill him and collect and even bigger bonus," Thug two stated dryly. Like it would be that easy. My swarm-self started making its way towards the drug house moving around out in the open like I had yesterday.  
"Just like that?" Thug one asked incredulously as I slowly maneuvered other portions of my swarm into position with excruciating patience. It was still too early in the year for bugs to really be out in force so if someone noticed two or three bugs they might think something up; especially considering that they were expecting me.  
"Just like that. You got a problem with that?"  
"No it's just that…how do we deal with the bugs?"  
"We kill the bitch controlling them and that's that," the thug stated with finality as my swarm-self closed in with the swarm erupting forward to assault the gang members whom had just started opening fire on the decoy. Thanks to my swarm I could 'feel' the trajectory of each bullet as it passed through the swarm. Bullets went well wide of the decoy most of the time even before my swarm started biting and stinging; in short they were already panicking. I smiled behind my mask; seems my reputation was already catching on.

The sounds of the battle outside reached the ears of the henchmen inside and they quickly readied their firearms. A lot of good it did them considering the next wave of the assault came not from without but within. The bugs I had been smuggling in attacked. They weren't as numerous as the group outside but I had utilized only the most effective of my swarm here and they themselves were all the harder to counter given that the bugs weren't forming easy to see masses.

Outside without me to provide the knockout strike, I resorted to sending my bugs crawling up nostrils and into mouths of my victims to cut off their air supply and thus rendering them unconscious. Others found themselves being bound if they stopped struggling for any appreciable amount of time. That was actually a larger percentage of the empire's neo-Nazis than I had expected. More than one had simply curled up into the fetal position and cried. I didn't know how to feel about that.

I grabbed the shotgun and pushed the barrel away from my opponent and I; my shoulder stinging from where the last blast had caught me. I sent a few bugs to examine the impact site not feeling any pain but knowing the adrenaline would have dampened it. I threw my chitin topped boot into the soft tissue between his legs as the bugs told me the shoulder's chitin cover hadn't even been penetrated by the two bits of shot that hit me. When he reflectively let go of the weapon I reared back and swung it like a golf club. I don't know exactly how hard I hit him with the sawed-down pistol grip, but it was enough to drop the goon like a sack full of potatoes. I had kept enough bugs back with me that I still had my own personal swarm shrouding me and my movements. I made heavy use of the swarm to conceal quick movements making it appear to those who saw me as if I was moving distances as the swarm itself.

I made the last of the goons choke on bugs before I went to work loading down duffels full of tonight's proceeds as my swarm continued to assault the larger number of gangbangers that had made their way outside. The entire reason I had chosen this particular stash house out of the four I had investigated was because the large basement concealed an entrance to the sewers. I'm not entirely sure if it was some sort of addition made by capes of the past, if it was meant to be some sort of maintenance entrance, or what; but since the sewers and storm drains shared a certain amount of interconnection it allowed me to covertly enter and exit the building while my swarm drew attention. This time instead of just taking what I could carry I literally took the entire stash of cash. It took three trips to get it all into the storm drains and onto the appropriated shopping cart I had positioned beforehand. On the last trip I pulled out my cellphone and informed the police of the raid. They were only just showing up when the site fell out of my range.

* * *

-/ **Interlude: The Undersiders**  
Tattletale smiled that vulpine grin of hers as she stated, "She's here."  
"Awesome," Regent stated his voice thick with apathy. He had nearly managed to be lazy enough to not come meet the prospective member. Tattletale had worked her usual magic by enticing him with comments about the petitioner's attractive frame.

Grue sighed; he didn't like appearing weak and right now that's how he felt. The stitches and bandages were hidden from view by the black leather of his costume, but the fact that they were there was enough. The abdominal wound had caused a lot of bleeding but thankfully the crossbow bolt hadn't hit anything vital; even with that girl pulling the bolt out the injury hadn't been too bad. No what had been worse was Tattletale gleaming what happened; she hadn't gotten all the details right but just her knowing how bad he fumbled was enough to put a dampener on his spirits. He straightened himself up, medicinally dulled pain reminding himself of the injury.

The girl…woman, he wasn't entirely sure which, that walked into the abandoned warehouse was wearing a skin tight black suit that was made of several types of material and the way the pieces were fitted together only served to accent the cape's curves. Her mask covered everything but a scalp full of waist-length onyx black hair and looked to be composed of an old school gasmask, oversized headphones, and had small cut outs for her eyes. No lenses. The base of the mask seemed to connect to the bodysuit seamlessly. Hell he didn't want to admit it, but just looking at the level of detail in her costume he bet she wouldn't need the money they were going to offer her to join their group.

"Let me test her. She looks soft." Bitch said from nearby.  
The black garbed woman glanced around, her eyes roving; they settled on Grue whose darkness was snaking out from his body to make him look more ethereal, "So there's going to be a test right? Not going to let me just join especially given the cash Tattletale said would be involved."  
"Yes. Bitch here is going to attack you. You're going to use your powers to not get maimed."  
"Charming," she said with an obviously fake European accent he couldn't guess at the intended origin she dropped when she spoke up next, 'When do we be-"

Her words were cut off by Rachel's whistle and her dogs burst forth each were about shoulder high and had been waiting for the signal behind crates. The cape jumped and leaped back in surprise just avoiding Brutus' jaws. Her body shifted into an inky shadow as her powers activated. She gracefully avoided Angelica and when the dog whipped its prehensile tail about and caught her at the waist and she was …split in half. But it looked more like a cloud of dye in liquid or creamer in coffee then an actual wound. The two parts reattached themselves like oils flowing into a depression.

When Judas tried to pounce on her she dropped down into a puddle and crossed several yards in a few seconds before returning to a humanoid form. With a sincerity that couldn't be faked, especially given the circumstances, she called out, "Uh. Am I supposed to hit back? I mean they're dogs right? I don't want to hit dogs."  
She continued avoiding the hellhounds as Tattle tale leaned over and mutter, "She's not Shadow Stalker and she's holding back."  
"I never said she was."  
"You were thinking it. The only thing they have in common shadow based powers"  
"And hot bodies," Regent interjected. Grue couldn't help but shake his head in response as the cape kept avoiding the dogs utilizing a mix of acrobatics and general tumbling.  
"Fight back you weakling!" Bitch shouted as Judas barreled through the black clad cape before she could recover from avoiding Brutus' previous attack.

As if a switch was flipped she disappeared in a streak of black on the floor before slamming bodily into Brutus. The dog tumbled over as if a midsized car had hit him. Tattletale muttered something about shape shifting as the behemoth of a dog recovered with a supernatural quickness. Brutus swung a paw in retaliation and this time when limb made contact it didn't sweep through her body; instead she was thrown like a rag doll with streamers of darkness unwinding from her body as she rolled with the blow and disappeared in the shadows of the warehouse.

A canine grunt of surprise drew the group's attention to a spot some thirty feet away. Grue barely had time to comprehend the image of the female cape swinging Angelica in a circle by the tail before it went sailing through the air and right into Brutus. She tumbled maintain the momentum from the spinning and disappeared in shadows again. There was no question where she emerged next as Judas yelped as he was knocked onto his haunches by what looked like some sort of springing inverted drop kick to the dog's chin from its own shadow. From there she launches a quick series of kicks before following up with spinning back heel kick that splayed the hellhound onto the ground. A twist of moment later she disappeared into another shadow.

Brian heard her first, or at least the swish of her body through _his_ personal darkness before Bitch herself grunted in surprised. Even as his mind registered that she had just used his darkness as a teleporting medium he turned to find Rachel in an iron clad headlock, "Can we stop now?"  
"Holy shit?" Regent yelped in surprise at her proximity as the dogs bolted toward their master's aid.  
"Yes. Bitch call them off," Grue ordered. He had seen more than enough the cape Lisa had found could likely tear them all apart. As much as he didn't like to think about it, he'd have to ask Tattletale how they could possibly counter her power if she ever decided to betray them.

Bitch waited till the hellhounds were nearly upon them to order them to stand down and found herself released from the hold in nearly the same moment.

"So you can teleport through darkness?"  
"And control my density and shape to a degree, but only while in this state," she stated as her body turned from inky shadow to seemingly solid obsidian.  
"Got a codename yet?"  
"Wraith," she sated as she shifted again this time returning to her natural state considering the black on black nature it was almost impossible to tell the difference unless you were paying attention to the way light hit her, "So do I get to join?"  
Grue turned towards the rest of the Undersiders instead of answering directly. Tattletale gave a small nod, Regent wore an appreciative grin as he surveyed her body, and Bitch simply muttered, "She's not weak"  
"That's a yes then?" Wraith asked.  
"Yeah."

The five of them made their way to the hideout in the docks in relative silence most of the conversation interestingly was from Wraith asking questions about Bitch's dogs. Bitch for her part seemed to be willing to tolerate the questions since they were specifically about the dogs themselves and that Wraith got visibly upset when the hound master explained how she rescued the dogs.

Inside the hideout everyone removed their masks reintroducing themselves by their civilian name. Wraith's waist long black hair was actually a wig sewn into the mask, a clever trick to hide her identity. She had jaw length chestnut hair framing a fairly attractive face that was made distinct by a beauty mark under her lip. She introduced herself with a simple, "And I'm Moira Langley."  
"So what are your limitations?" Grue asked as he settled onto the couch muffling a grunt in the process. He noticed that without the mask on Wraith seemed more...subdued. He briefly wondered if that would cause problems with Rachel.  
Alec dropped on the couch next to him with a box of pizza from the fridge in hand as she spoke, "I have limitations on pretty much everything I can do. I mean I know I can do more with my powers then most capes but everything has its limits. With my density adjustments I can make myself feather light or heavy enough to crack pavement just standing there, but I can't reduce my density enough to phase through something."

Brian noted the expression on Lisa's face as Moira continued explaining what she knew of her own powers. She'd likely have drawn out additional details much like the radiation shielding effect of his darkness. Good, the team had needed another heavy hitter and from what the woman was describing there was a great deal of synergy and versatility potential within her power set.

"I can be injured while in wraith state but as long as I'm able to recon situate myself there's no lasting damage," She motioned to the area of her side were Brutus had caught her. There wasn't even any damage to her costume, "I can stay in wraith state for a good long while, I'm not really sure what the upper limit is last time I tested I fell asleep and woke up in my human state. But I can't actually see, smell, feel, hear, or taste like normal. My senses get replaced with this ur-sense that's hard to explain; expressions like 'tasting emotions, smelling colors, and hearing texture' come to mind, but that's more how my brain is attempting to correlate the new sense. It took me a while but now that I have a handle on it I can detect my environment better than I can with my normal senses, and as far as I can tell nothing really disrupts it. For example I was able to sense through your darkness."  
"My power tells me that there's no duration limitation on any of your powers."  
"Your power?"  
"Think of it as super intuition."  
"Oh. Neat."  
"And those sick moves?" Alec asked.  
Moira sighed and continued, "Shadow striding, when I'm moving low to the ground like a living shadow, is just me morphing my body and snaking it in the direction I want to go. I can only move along surfaces and stuff but it's a little disorienting especially with the speed it can get up to when I get into a good rhythm. My shadow jump is more like using shadows as portals then actual teleportation and is limited to straight lines and no greater than about a hundred feet."  
"Man you're a dork." Alec commented.  
The reply came so quick that it was almost supernatural, "Says the guy dressed like a renaissance fair reject."  
"Oh she's got spunk can we keep her?" the son of Heartbreaker asked wiry.

* * *

-/** Author Notes:  
**So I wanted to go ahead and state outright that one of the chief reasons why this one took longer to get out was because I got sick. Like sick enough that it was hard to do anything but play video games. I wish I had more superhero video games… hell I wish there was a larger selection of 'good' superhero games. In case you're wondering I've been playing Arkham City. This also got delayed because I kept writing; I've already got six thousand words for the next chapter bashed out.

Before it hits the fan let me point something out about some the things she does, how much action she gets (bow chika bow wow?), and things she gets away with in this chapter.

Let's start with the meeting with Piggot since it's one of the chief things in this chapter. Hell I wrote it before I wrote the morning's events. Piggot I know seems to be too happy, this is chiefly because she is getting a reason to get rid of Shadow Stalker. I can see Piggot as having been very annoyed with having a rebellious PR nightmare with a penchant for overly aggressive action dumped into her lap. Shadow Stalker isn't helping the public's opinion on capes in their midst. Her power has a lot of power perversion potential, she was an outright vigilante before she is forced to join and she's for lack of other words crass and brutish. Further Emily knows, everyone knows, that she isn't adhering to the probation's terms but they can't nail down proof of it. And here comes Skitter with a duffel full of evidence and only requesting that they do the right thing with it. The icing on the cake? The fact that Sophia turns out to have been a bully only gives Piggot that much more reason to proverbially nail her to the wall.

Skitter does a lot of subterfuge and sleight of hand in this chapter. We have things like when she and the bag of evidence 'appears' from nowhere during the meeting with Piggot (they were both there from the beginning laying in the open hidden by the swarm), the use of climbing gear to repel out of the garage when she made her dramatic exit stage left, or the use of swarm clones to make her appear elsewhere while she's otherwise busy. You'll see more of these theatrics in coming chapters.

I was told that I had made the new capes I added to the 'verse too powerful, especially Starlight since he was a 'throw away' villain. As such when I wrote Feng Lao I did so because I wanted to show that the ABB has more capes then was present in Worm and show a much weaker cape then my previous examples. Yes, that's less powerful.

Taylor hauls in about two million in drug money during these three raids. To put it in perspective, anyone of those duffels could have contained a million if they were filled with only hundred dollar bills, and from what I could find would only weigh in at a little over twenty pounds. That said beyond the ABB raid, few of those stacks or rolls of money were all hundreds; most wore twenties or even tens. In Wormverse or in any superhero centric universe for that matter I'd imagine that there would actually be some sort of law for legally seizing 'spoils of war.' After all the only other method I could think of for solo heroes to fund their misadventures without getting some sort of sponsorship would be to have a bounty heavy system. Hence the Vigilante Bills which among other things allows people to legally make a completely separate costumed identity.

The Undersider's interlude was the last thing I wrote. The aforementioned writing for the next chapter was done well in advance. Wraith is one of the characters I wrote ahead of time complete with the idea of her joining the Undersiders. As for why she seems to potent, she's already had her second trigger (it came minutes after her first) with occurred in November of 2010. Criticism on her would be more than welcomed.


	4. Chapter 4: A Bright Light

**-/ Chapter 4: The Bright Light /-**

Monday came too soon. I had spent the majority of the night rifling through documents that I had found in my lair. The Heroic Five's tinker had been thorough in documenting everything, especially her tinker stuff. Using the documentation as a guide I think I could actually operate some of the stuff relatively safely and I actually considered using one of the fives motorcycles to get around town. But why ride around on second hand tinker stuff when you could travel in style of your own design? As such it shouldn't be surprising that I had finalized the design features of what would be my new Atlas and already started enlarging a beetle that would become the titanic bug. I had a mild migraine, more an annoyance than anything, and was operating on only a few hours of restless, nightmare-filled sleep. I ate a large breakfast, had coffee instead of tea, and jogged to school instead of trying to stay awake on the bus ride to Winslow.

I robotically went through the assignment in first period and before heading online to check Parahumans Online. As it turns out there were no less than fifteen forum threads that had something to do with my activities the last few days. There were the usual demands for more information by those not on the inside, a few posters that were either at the scene of an event or heard about it as part of the PRT or BBPD that had access to the reports of the events relaying what was known. Others focused on Skitter.

There was a lot of speculation on the extent of my powers. That wasn't all too surprising; I had been using extremely large swarms. But my use of swarm decoys and utilizing swarm screens to mask my movement had the boards speculating that I'd soon be getting a changer rating due to my apparent ability to covert my own body into a small swarm of bugs. This was rather interestingly 'supported' by video of the theatrics I made use of during the raids. If I didn't know better I'd believe it, whether it was my making use of swarm screens to mask my movements or a swarm decoy exploding and moving from point to point it looked convincing.

Watching the videos of my raids floating over the net also made it clear that the spectacle had worked, people focused on the massive formations of bugs or on the seeming inhuman nature of my cape persona. So convincing was the act that there was a thread that in no uncertain terms stated that I was likely a case fifty three citing that my unusual powers (there was a total of two other capes that had bug centric powers) and the apparent potency of those powers as common traits of other case fifty threes. Another poster speculated that I would likely be headhunted by Faultline's Crew.

This brought me to my next observation… I noticed that more than a few of the videos focused on my victims during and after attacks by my swarm. It looked as horrifying as it was undoubtedly to experience. If the comments were any indication the three words used to describe me would be creepy, terrifying, and villainous. That last one annoyed me. Thankfully I wasn't the only one who believed I was a hero. Vigilant and a minority of posters argued that I at least shouldn't be classified as a villain until I did something truly villainous. My powers and style made me seem villainous but I could easily be an example of an antihero or a good person with bad powers. I wondered what I could do to improve my image. I didn't want the average person on the street to scare themselves shitless if I showed up in costume, or even worse cause a massive outbreak of entomophobia.

* * *

I was struggling to stay awake when I deposited myself in my seat for History class. Luckily, or perhaps unluckily depending on how you looked at it, Mr. Michealson's blatant enthusiasm for teaching history and history in general was infectious in a way that Glady could only dream of. The older man stormed back and forth from one side of the class while muttering to himself and making wild gestures that if he'd been encountered on the street would have led to one assuming insanity.

He scribbled on the board as the last of the class settled in just after the tardy bell rang, "As I'm sure you all know, or maybe you don't -I can never keep track of which- The Wards East North East team's biannual visit was moved up for this semester. Instead of being in April, it's today."

There were murmurs among the class as his words sunk in. I nodded dumbly before it hit me what he had said. The Wards were coming here. My mind raced for reasons until it recalled Director Piggot telling Skitter that fact yesterday during our phone conversation. The Wards and PRT were actually here to draw out confirmation on the bullying I had been subjected to.

"As such I thought it'd be a good time to refresh everyone's memory on recent Cape history, especially as it pertains to Brockton Bay's local scene," Michelson continued his voice taking on that quality that signaled a subject that was really near and dear to the man's heart. It had become obvious over the last month that the only thing more interesting to Michelson then cape history was capes themselves. He had three different Protectorate 'V-formation' posters adorning the class' walls each from a different era.

"As you know from last week's lesson, unless you slept through all of them -Mr. Rivers I'm looking at you- The fifties and sixties are collectively known as the dark era as villains across the world were consistently victorious in their varied schemes. Those that donned the mask for truth justice and all that jazz found themselves increasingly cut off from one another and on the wrong side of popular opinion and by extension local law enforcers thanks to the adoption of the more brutal vigilantism of the era that was recently romanticized in literature and comics of the nineties," Michelson recapped his voice taking on peculiar qualities as he animated his words with exaggerated body language. I wouldn't have been the least bit surprised if you told me he had for a long time worn a full face mask and heavy armor, the way he emoted wasn't uncommon for capes who tried to make themselves expressive through such costumes.

"This era came to an end with the arrival of the Triumvirate and the establishment of the Protectorate," he paused and game a nostalgic smile before continuing, "While they were not alone in their efforts Legend, Hero, Alexandria, and Eidolon did irrevocably change the landscape of … well everything. Across the Americas heroes were able to unite under a single banner to combat greater threats from villains and enjoy the support of the government for the first time. In time similar organizations would appear on other continents and countries and for the first time in far, far too many years villains feared the changing tide and were universally on the back foot."

"I'm sure you're more interested however in the Wards, the junior branch of the protectorate filled with your powered peers who choose to fight the good fight. The Wards were established in …"

I was woken by the bell nearly forty five minutes later. Someone slapped me in the back of the head as they passed to leave the room. I shook the cobwebs from my mind as I heard Michelson walk over. When I made my eyes meet his he smiled and handed me a small packet of paper, "Today's notes, the pages covered in the textbook for further reading, and an assignment for falling asleep in class."

I nodded taking the packet and stuffing it in my bag. Michelson gave you a choice, if you fell asleep in his class you either did an assignment or took a tardy. Since accumulating enough tardies could make you fail the class and the grades from the assignments could help offset bad test scores almost everyone took the assignments. I knew at least one of the jocks often feigned sleeping just to get the assignments, they weren't particularly hard. That sort of consideration was why I liked my History teacher. The world needs more Mr. Michelsons, "I'm really sorry. I had …got hit with the insomnia bug last night."

"No problem. After all I doubt you'd want to fall asleep during the Ward's meet and greet," he replied in understanding and I found myself nodding in agreement. I didn't want to be half asleep when they showed up.

* * *

In Mr. Glady's World Issues class there was orange juice in my usual seat and the empty bottle left lying under it. I sighed, not because of the prank itself, but because it represented that I wasn't sure how much my previous life's memories could be relied on for as a road map to what will happen. This was almost three months too soon. I sat in another seat hearing snickers from were Madison sat.

After class I was crowded into a corner and the cadre of girls went about making their insults about me to each other as if I wasn't there. I noted that unlike last time, or for that matter any time before, I could tell Sophia wasn't really into it. As the girls started contradicting one another I wondered if this change was because she was having a hard time fitting me neatly into her binary predator or prey mentality. After all, I wouldn't defend myself against school bullies but I could and had attacked a super villain when he took me hostage. What would she think if she knew what kind of loaded gun I had with just the bugs in the school? I shook my head clearing the line of thought which was misread by Emma.

"What's wrong Taylor?" she asked in mock sincerity, "Going to lose it again? Or maybe you're going to cry yourself to sleep for a week straight."  
The memory…memories, came to mind in a flash and just as quickly I walled off the memory and compartmentalized the hurt that surfaced. I was made of sterner stuff then I had been last time. So I arced an eyebrow and spoke a bit louder than normal, just enough to draw attention, "Really, Emma? Bringing up my Mom's death now? Turning something I confided in you about back when we were friends; I wonder what THAT looks like to your new friends. What does it say about the secrets they have told you in confidence?"  
"What?" Emma's voice was as surprised as her face. She expected a much different result. She was completely off balanced; there was only one thing to do in this situation. Go for the kill.  
"Haven't you realized yet? Nothing you do or say really bothers me. You're nothing but an inconvenience. I don't avoid you because I'm scared of you, I avoid you because it's easier then dealing with your ridiculous antics," I stated evenly before shouldering past her. She growled the beginning of a rebuttal but it died in her throat when she saw Mr. Glady standing just outside his classroom door. The situation was too much for him to ignore, now he was duty bound to do something. I didn't spare him a glance as I walked off to eat my lunch in peace secure in the knowledge that I had recorded the entire thing. Most of the earlier events were things that the faculty could deny being aware of because of where and when they took place, this one however wasn't.

* * *

I let my facade slip after I found a nice secluded spot in the gym's bleachers to eat. The gym, little more than an indoor basketball court than anything, was perfect; it was big and wide open so I could spot the bullies well in advance if they came looking for me. And yet it was the last place the terrible trio would come looking for me. Taylor had no reason to be here. As such I was safe enough to let myself feel for a moment; I shrugged off the mental armor that I had built around myself and let the hurt in. I cried. I thought I'd be ready for Emma's gut punch this time but I hadn't figured on my subconscious drawing on the memories of both lives. I had barely held back the flood gates then, now? I let myself feel.

Just after I pulled myself back together the principal came over the intercom instructing all students to gather in the gym for the Wards' meet and greet. It didn't take long for the gym to fill up, definitely less time than it did for the damnable pep rallies. Thanks to the bugs in the school I knew that the Wards had been on school grounds for almost twenty minutes before having largely arrived by way of a PRT van with Miss Militia acting as a chaperon. Sophia had waited to slip away from her friends during the migration towards the gym.

On a whim I had made a swarm clone on the roof of the building across the street from the school and gave it a few tens of thousands bugs to act as a small swarm. Skitter was after all supposed to be aware of this even if Taylor wasn't. It also established a reason why there'd be more than average bug activity in the school as I used them to watch the spectacle that was the Wards' entrance. Aegis and Kid Win flew in the latter using his hoverboard while Vista, Gallant, and Clockblocker zipped in at unusual speed as the youngest of the group distorted space and finally Shadow Stalker fell through the ceiling in her shadow form. The flaring of Sophia's cloak made the entrance look more graceful than it was.

The Wards spoke intermittently about a variety of things that was usually covered at these sorts of events. At about the last fifteen minutes they opened things up into a question and answer session. Someone posed the question of how the Wards got their powers. Clockblocker delivered a little gem, "Why, so you can go have a lab accident hoping to get powers?"

As usual when he spoke his audience laughed I could see a few of the Wards snicker at the comment. I almost missed it when I heard Miss Militia's voice though my swarm, "Skitter what are you going here?"  
It took me a moment to realize where she was, she had gotten herself within thirty feet of my swarm clone. I had it turn towards the cape and address her, "Watching. Mostly waiting."  
"Waiting for what?" The flag wearing hero asked as her hand moved to the sheath for her power's weapon.  
"To tell Taylor goodbye," I made an effort of getting the swarm to sound sad at the prospect. I had been practicing particularly at adding emotion to my swarm voice. It wasn't exactly easy to do as I had to figure out how a person's voice changed to convey an particular emotion and try to mimic that change using hundreds of sounds that made up the whole.  
"Are you leaving?" She asked confused. I wasn't surprised that Piggot hadn't bothered to inform the Protectorate member of Skitter's intention of cutting ties with Taylor.  
"No. I'm just going to stop associating with her. I don't want her to get caught up in the cape scene; especially with me looking to make enemies out of the gangs of the city," I elaborated as I dropped back into the swarm's emotionless drone as if Skitter was trying to reassert a callous, clinical detachment. I wanted the villains to fear Skitter, to see me as a supernatural threat, but I also wanted the heroes to know me as a human being. Combine that with a want to be considered a hero by the public at large and I was juggling a lot when it came to interacting as Skitter; even more so since I still didn't have the interpersonal skills to really flourish.

Miss Militia nodded in understanding. I wondered what she thought of the idea of a cape distancing themselves from humanity generally or specifically for the safety of others,"Shouldn't you be in school?"  
"I'm home schooled," I lied trying to divorce Taylor and Skitter further and help explain how Skitter was present, "Helps out when I'm investigating something like Shadow Stalker's misconduct. I assume Piggot is still going through the evidence."  
"Her and a few others. I don't know how you did it but Piggot has been keeping fairly to herself to keep the Wards from knowing how angry she is."  
"You'd be too if you read the journals alone. It's vicious what's been done to her. A part of me is glad that she doesn't seem to have the ability to trigger; I couldn't imagine having to take that kind of abuse for so long without lashing out with my powers. Just watching the events of the past few weeks unfold made me annoyed and angry at myself because I couldn't help her more directly."  
"You couldn't?"  
"Look at me. If I was to intervene more directly the school would assume it came under attack by a bug controlling villain. And my attacking and humiliating those kids would ruin any headway I've made in promoting a positive public image of myself. The most I could do was offer a shoulder to cry on and reassurances that things would get better. I hope the PRT doesn't make a liar of me. The girl has suffered enough," As odd as it was, I didn't really have any difficulty divorcing Skitter and Taylor. Well I had no problem as Skitter talking about Taylor as is she was another person entirely; doing the reverse was a bit harder. What did that say about me? Was I becoming the mask? Or maybe some other metaphor described what was happening to me better, I didn't know.

* * *

Inside the assembly had ended and everyone was released to their next classes. The Wards, we were told, would be coming around to random classes for the rest of the day. Kid Win and Shadow Stalker I noticed had also departed the latter walking right through a wall while the former hovered over the crowd. I had waited to leave until the majority of the tangle of students had already left.

It wasn't hard for them to subtly pull me aside; Vista was extremely efficient at quick minor alterations to the locale. As such when I clattered down the bleachers stairs I went exactly where they wanted me to. I looked around somewhat confused by Vista's spatial warping. My bugs gave me a sense of my positioning but the disorientation was a little too much like when I was teleported by Trickster for my liking. I was now on the ground floor of the gym close to the door to the away team's locker room. Closing my eyes I shook my head to help reorient myself.

"Hi Taylor," Aegis said brightly. How had he? He was leaning against the nearby wall like he had been there the entire time. Given that Vista had manipulated my path I bet she had given him a shortcut here while I was disoriented. Thanks to the fly on her head part of my mind was able to note how Madison had turned at the mention of my name. I briefly wondered what she'd think about the fact that a cape, especially one with a body like Aegis', knew me by name.  
"Hey yourself. What's up with this? That was Vista's power, right?"  
"Yeah. I asked her to do it," he paused and looked me up and down in a…appraising manner almost like he did before sparring. Really since you couldn't see his eyes the only indication of the action was a very subtle nod but I had long gotten use to reading body language to fill in the blanks left by not being able to see someone's face. I knew he did it habitually while trying to come up with a correct approach to a situation. Apparently he thought the best approach was to be direct, "We know about the bullying."  
"I thought Skitter was going to hand the stuff to the Director to avoid your team altogether," I said instead of the more incriminating 'I know I was there' I had initially thought.  
"I was with Piggot when she met Skitter to pick up the evidence."  
"Oh," I made myself deflate at that. The face I showed as Taylor at Peerless wasn't burdened by the bullying. She was a star pupil and dedicated to understanding what she was learning. So I had to act like Aegis' knowing this aspect of my life was demeaning in its own way. It wasn't that difficult.  
"I'm not weak," I muttered without even realizing it. The realization my mouth had run away from me made me blush as I clamped my mouth shut before I said something damming.  
"You've broken my arm during sparring. I know you aren't weak Taylor," Aegis replied making me blush all that much more. Said incident had been an accident, damn it. Krav Maga's brutality had slipped into my sparing with the hero and I had delivered a full on palm strike to a fully extended arm's elbow. I had been mortified when the arm bent the wrong way, more so when he had just brushed it off and readjusted his arm as if nothing untoward had happened. I could practically feel his smile, "Being bullied doesn't make you weak. Just look at me. How do you think I triggered?"  
My head snapped up so quick I was skirting on getting whiplash. My wide eyes met his through his helmet, "_Shit did he put two and two together and realize I was Skitter?_ I didn't know. Man, life's not fair you get super powers for being bullied and I just have a psychotic episode."  
He laughed it off and admitted, "I won the preverbal lottery. But think about it, my powers make me able to take even greater punishment so I'm even more of an 'acceptable target' for bullies of the world."  
"Uh? Blessed with suck?"  
"Oh yeah," he said, "Just imagine knowing you could let these guys beat on you all day but the moment you take a swing things go horribly wrong. I mean, when we spar in class I'm always holding back and the padded suit is designed to greatly reduce the amount of force transferred from me to my opponent. If a normal person wore it you'd swear their hits felt like a feather being used."  
"So I'd end up giggling? Madly?"  
"You get what I mean."  
"I do."

I decided to go back to the previous topic as I checked around quickly with my bugs to ensure none was in earshot, "So is Sophia going to get what's coming to her?"  
"Piggot wants to have her head on a pike. She's pretty much embodied everything our Director hates in capes, and she's done it on the PRT's coin and under our noses. So yeah, she'll see justice."  
I let out a sigh of relief. Hearing it from Piggot had been nice but Aegis' explanation made me feel a lot better than hers had, especially since it was meant to be reassuring to me, "So what about the others?"  
"The PRT needs to have at least one other person come forth about the events that's been going on here."  
"My little medical stay wasn't enough verification," I asked a whole different kind of heat rushing to my face, "How about the goddamn video? I've been wearing these spyglasses for so long I forgot how much less my normal frames weigh."  
"Taylor, that's one event. Civil lawyers could argue that it was an isolated incident," Aegis said in the practiced clam of someone use to dealing with instable elements. I definitely felt unstable as my power blurred the edges of my vision and I had to countermand orders my subconscious had given. I shook my head. It was still going to happen; the girls would get away with it. Sophia wasn't but the others would and would likely redouble their efforts to make up for Sophia not being there. Especially if they knew I was the reason why it happened.

I remembered almost at once I had options here. Others did know about the bullying I went through it was just a question of getting them to come forward about what they knew, "I told Felix about it. And she saw the aftermath of Friday's juice shower."  
"Felix? From Peerless?" Aegis asked he sounded a little surprise as the implied friendship I had with the rogue, "And do I want to know about the 'juice shower' bit?"  
"Yes, 'Felix from Peerless' and you may want to know about the juice shower but I'm not sharing details. How about asking others that we caught in the videos," I asked and I got hit so hard with realization that I felt like Aegis had slapped me at full tilt, "Mr. Glady. Today. I've got a recording in my glasses from today that shows him easily within earshot of some of the latest round of bullying. And if he's not willing to admit what happened I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure he gets what's coming to him."  
"What?"  
"I don't trust the damn faculty here because they have been turning a blind eye to everything. I've suffered the trio's attacks for over a year, you don't think any of them noticed? They've been ignoring it." If Aegis knew what I was capable of he'd be more worried still it looked like the message had been sent. I was ready to go Carrie in a way I'd never had been during either of my lives. Part of it was because the bullying was still getting to me even if I told myself otherwise, the other part was because I was so damn close to seeing justice and now it was going to be taken away from me. I couldn't help but think that my constant mind self from the previous life, the whole 'nothing good can ever happen to me,' had been correct all along. I had been striving for a more positive mind set in this life because I felt like I could orchestrate a better life for myself but all of it was crumbling down.  
"Get Mr. Glady and have Kid Win meet me outside the teacher's lounge; he'll likely have the stuff on him to play the video directly from my glasses. I want to see this fucker try to deny what happened."

* * *

"You're Taylor?" Kid Win asked a few minutes later. I could barely see his eyes through the red lens of his goggles but it was enough for me to be able to track them as he tried to give me a quick once over. I returned the favor; this was my first time getting a chance to see him in this life. His equipment looked…different. The goggles, laser pistols, and hoverboard were there but the breastplate, bracers and greaves looked different than any variant I'd ever seen…they looked extremely segmented like a jigsaw puzzle of metal. Maybe the armor could fold up for ease of storage.

"Yes. Miss Militia and my principal are already inside," I explained motioning to the door to the teacher's lounge. I pulled my glasses off my face letting the world go blurry beyond five feet and popped off the covers for the mini USB ports on the legs of my glasses. As I raised them towards him I said, "Just tell me you have a cable that fits this."

"That I do," Kid said without really looking at the port. He turned his left bracer and panels on the inside retracted to reveal a keypad. He punched in a code and a moment later a flash of light signaled the teleportation of a three foot long coil of cable. My previous guess about his armor being designed to fold up seemed silly when he could just teleport the parts in.

He fitted the plug into my glasses and then finally met my eyes, "Is this thing plug-and-play?"  
"Yeah. But audio and video are recorded separately. It can be a hassle to match up if I turned one leg on before the other."  
"Sounds like it. Shouldn't be too hard to do though," he said as he plugged the other end into a port of his bracer. I could see lights inside his goggles as the displays came alive and showed him the contents that were automatically uploading to his systems. He repeated the process with the other leg and a few key taps and such later and he announced, "Matched it up. I'm sure Aegis will be happy to hear about this?"  
"Why?"  
"Because you made him a bit worried. At least now he'll understand it wasn't his fault."  
"It was never his fault," I admitted, "He just…I almost lost it. I'm so sick of all this shit."  
"I can understand that. Um… do you know?"  
"That SH and SS is the same person? Yes."  
The tinker tilted his head in a near exact copy of so many other cape that wore more concealing attire as he ferreted out my meaning, "S..ah. Good."

"Not really it just made things more frustrating. Knowing the why the school wasn't doing anything didn't help. And so we don't misunderstand Skitter never actually told me. I put it together myself after she appeared to help me," I explained. The last part was my covering my bases; after all I didn't want the heroes thinking Skitter was the type to casually break the unwritten rules.

"Really? How?"  
"I know EB too well and MC's personality doesn't suit any of _them_ well enough to match, SH on the other hand fit SS far too well."  
"You know one of your bullies 'too well?' That sounds weird."  
"She was my best and only friend until high school." I arced a brow, "You'd know that if you'd watch the video."  
"I only synced it up based on the girls I could see in it talking. Once that was done I stopped it. It felt wrong just listening to that much. What about all of them?"  
"Minor annoyances that go along with it to keep their status among the three primaries," I explained, "I don't even care if they get in trouble. Without the three goading them they're a nonissue."  
"Well I guess you knowing will make this next conversation easier."  
"I'm guessing that if circumstances were different the faculty would be warning me not to out her at threat of expulsion at least."  
"You think they'd do that?"  
"Are you kidding? They've all but bent me over for her. I had no avenue of retaliation until Skitter showed up. And even then it's because I'm circumventing them when I should be going through or to them."

* * *

Aegis and Mr. Glady showed up at about that time. Glady looked…confused. I couldn't say I didn't like that but I had to remember that he was technically an asset here. He was the leverage I could use to break the whole thing open. The lot of us entered the lounge at the same time. It didn't take long for everyone to get seated. Instead of letting the faculty or anyone else for that matter start things off I took charge, "Mr. you remember my desk being vandalized today before class?"  
"I do," he said confusion still evident in the tone. I couldn't blame him it would look stupid to me if someone pulled me out of my free period to ask about something so trivial. Especially given the company in the room, you didn't go to the wards about that sort of thing.  
"And after class, do you remember seeing me in the hallway? Surrounded by girls? Being taunted?"  
"I…" He paused.  
"You were present before Emma said and I quote, 'What's wrong? Going to lose it again? Or maybe you're going to cry yourself to sleep for a week straight.' I outright stated afterward that she was referring to my mother's death," I could see Aegis out the corner of my eye as I watched Glady; the superhero clenched his fists tightly. The teacher wasn't answering the question so I added in a low hush that one used when making threats of death and worse, "Answer the question. Or are you too worried about protecting Shadow Stalker?"

I could practically feel the lightning bolt that crashed through everyone except Kid Win. I hadn't after all mentioned my knowledge to either of the other heroes in the lounge, much less the failure that was my principal. I didn't give them the chance to recover I turned toward the tinker whom had materialized a laptop from whatever hammerspace he stored everything in. At a nod he turned the computer around as the video began playing. The encounter was just as I remembered it and while I had not noticed at the time Glady had been at the doorway to his class for almost the entirety of it. I had to wonder why he'd even bother if he wasn't going to do anything about it.  
"I did see that."  
"And you didn't stop it because Shadow Stalker, Sophia, was involved," I turned away from him fixing Miss Militia's eyes with my own, "There's your second instance; confirmation of an ongoing bullying campaign. I think now would be a good time to tell them why you're all really here."

Miss Militia didn't seem to realize that I had been using my bugs to observe her and the principal's interactions. It had been little more than the cape staring, likely glaring, at the other woman. Instead she simply started speaking, "Another cape, Skitter, came to us at the end of last week with a mountain of incident reports concerning not just Shadow Stalker's actions while in costume but of the continual bullying campaign she participated in here against Ms. Hebert. Among the evidence that the cape submitted was nearly a month's worth of video recordings like this one from a surveillance device Taylor had been asked to wear, and a year and a half more of journal entries painstakingly recording said campaign.

"To say I'm appalled at what has been going on here would be an understatement and in this regard the Director agrees. When we told you of Ms. Hess it was so that you could facilitate quick escapes when she was called in, to be lenient when she fell asleep in class after a late night patrol, or provide a lighter homework load; things that would alleviate the pressures of living a double life. It was not so you could turn a blind eye to her less desirable activities. The wards are after all still children that need discipline from time to time," Miss Militia paused for effect and no doubt to take a breath. Her accent, I never was able to place it, was strong but it didn't make her any less charismatic or understandable, "I could understand it better if you passed the buck to us to discipline her but the fact you didn't even do so much as inform us of these events speaks of criminal negligence on your part. Keeping silent about this has only abled her to continue unabated. Now is the time to stop. I strongly recommend that you inform the members of the faculty to come forward about any and all of these events they had knowledge of. The Director is looking for an excuse to put anyone even remotely responsible in front the proverbial firing squad and with the video recordings she'll have that excuse."

After that the principal had simply nodded and the meeting abruptly ended. Once the faculty members had left the room I let out a long sigh. Relief was flooding my veins; in my past life I had essentially never really resolved this problem. It just got to the point that I couldn't devote anytime to solving it because bigger things were always popping up. That raw relief was evident in my voice as I spoke, "I can't believe things are actually happening. It's going to end."

"This is going to be handled quietly. The fact that this sort of thing happened with a Ward doesn't do the PRT's image any good. Even more so if it was known just how bad it got and what it took to make any sort of progress. I hope that's okay."  
"It is. I'm relieved that there's an end in sight that doesn't involve Shadow Stalker shooting me with a crossbow," I said before adding nearly under my breath, "I've already stared that particular event in the eye before, I don't want a repeat."  
"What?!" Aegis almost shouted in surprise. Kid Win gapped but Miss Militia only shook her head.  
"Skitter told us about that. Grue took you hostage when Shadow Stalker went after him on one of her solo patrols."  
"Oh," Aegis said the meeting with my other persona likely coming to his mind, "I …I guess it just didn't click at the time. That's…"  
"Insane because she was going to shoot anyway. I watched the video a few times; she started pulling the trigger's before I gave any indication of trying to escape. Considering where Grue was hit, I'm pretty sure I would have been impaled."  
"Fucking psycho," Kid muttered under his breath. No one reprimanded him for the comment, why when you agreed?

The quite that followed was only interrupted by Vista walking into the lounge with a sigh. She looked around from behind her green visor and asked, "Did someone die?"  
"No. Actually quite the opposite," I said, "I'm having a rather good day. We're just dealing with a dark tangent. Right?"  
"Yeah. No use getting glum right?" Kid Win asked forcing himself out of whatever place his mind had wandered. He gave me a winning smile.  
"You're right," Aegis said, "Did the bell ring yet?"  
"About another ten minutes," I replied absently. I was busy making 'Skitter' and her swarm move around. Making a swarm form walk convincingly was …difficult but I was getting better at it. I had to make sure to do things like that in case the PRT had someone watching it.  
"Is Shadow Stalker going to join us next period?" Vista asked. I could tell she was trying to skirt around the issue of my being in the room but I couldn't for the life of me come up with a way I could have heard that that didn't make my brow rise in suspicion.

I decided to remove the problem, "Sophia has study hall next block. So I'd imagine she'd be able to don her costume without much trouble."  
"You?" Vista asked surprised. I smiled at the way her voice pitched, it was …cute? She seemed to take a moment to reevaluate everything looking to the others for confirmation. When she got a nod from Miss Militia she ventured, "Are you one of Sophia's friends?"  
I snorted almost at the same time the Ward's resident tinker did, "No. I'm an acquaintance that was able to put things together. She doesn't know I know and I'd like to keep it that way. I don't particularly like her. She's got a…abrasive attitude."  
"That she does," Aegis agreed.

Shortly after that Kid Win and Aegis went out into the school and Vista got a drink and fiddled with her phone. Before another silence could fall Miss Militia said, "We're fast tracking you to Arcadia, Taylor."  
"Oh…good. I wasn't expecting that until after …everything was resolved," I stumbled in response. Attending school at Arcadia free of bullies and a reputation as the loser that was stuffed in a locker seemed like a far off dream. Like all dreams however it was stained by memories of my past life. The two times I had been in that school in my previous life had not been particularly good memories.  
"Well it'll probably be a week or so before we get the paper work for your guardian to sign," the flag wearing cape stated, "I don't want to sound insensitive but do you think what we're doing will be enough for Skitter?"  
"Why don't you ask her directly?" I asked motioning towards a small collection of bugs I had moved into the lounge earlier, "She must be listening in or cockroaches suddenly took up synchronized moving."  
Vista made a surprised 'eep' when she saw the indicated bugs. The Protectorate member on the other hand took it in stride and directly addressed the group of bugs, "Are you satisfied with our progress?"  
I for my part had the bugs rearrange themselves on the wall to spell out a simple 'yes,' I would have used the swarm voice instead but there wasn't enough variety in the small group. At about the same time Vista leaned towards me and asked in a whisper, "Doesn't that creep you out?"  
"You get used to it. Try holding a conversation with a group of bugs where there's not much more than enough to form seven letters. It's surprising how much it results in reverting to yes or no questions," I explained drawing a giggle from the girl.

I went back to class shortly after the period ended. Despite the Wards being in the school my last class, Art, had managed to be just as uneventful as ever, even if Vista had sort of followed me to the class and totally derailed it for most of the period. Mrs. Peterson, the teacher, got the heroine to pose as our model for a few sketches. To most of the class' disgust one of the guys mumbled something about most models being nude. Vista reacted to the crude comment by using her power to tip his stool back and childishly stick her tongue at him. The action earned her a good many giggles and chuckles.

On the way home, which I jogged, I made the swarm follow after me keeping to the rooftops for a few blocks before I sent it into an alley and dispersed it. Running was not something I could make a swarm form do so I had it dissolve after a few steps to fly after me. Hopefully if any of the PRT was watching it they'd assume it was that power the boards were assigning me and not gleam the fact that they had been watching just a swarm of bugs for however long they would have been.

When I got home Dad was waiting for me. I had called him after Aegis and I talked in the gym and told him that the bullying was finally getting addressed. I had to assure him that they hadn't done anything serious but rather it had become impossible for the school to ignore anymore. As was when he swept me up in a hug that spoke of how there for me he was I nearly wept right there. We parted and sat down at the table. Dad lead things with, "Tell me everything."

"That would take too long. Short version I met a cape my third day back to school. The new bug cape, Skitter? Her. She was tracking something when she noticed me getting bullied by the terrible trio. After school she cornered me in an alley. After I pepper sprayed her she actually offered to help me deal with the problem. Not with force either, with evidence. She gave me these," I said removing my glasses so he could see them close up. He looked the glasses over and I explained, "The legs have tiny cameras and mics in them. So I was able to record what was happening to me."  
"Oh," Dad said realizing where this was going, "And you collected enough to bring to the principal."  
"Skitter brought it to the PRT, to the Director herself. Skitter had followed a cape to Winslow, Dad. She believed that leaving bullies like the girls to do what they did to me could result in a bullied kid triggering and going Carrie on the school. She specifically said that things like the locker incident were exactly the sort of things that could make someone trigger."  
"Oh Taylor," his eyes watered at my words and by the time he had ferreted out their meaning he wrapped me in another embrace. We stayed like that for almost a minute and I could admit that despite the fact that neither of us were really huggers it felt right.  
When we broke he asked, "So the Wards showing up at your school today?"  
"Was in part to see how I was doing. They wanted to make sure I hadn't triggered. The other and more important part was that they gave the school an ultimatum. Letting them know just what sort of divine wrath the PRT's director wanted to rain down on their heads for their complicity in this. I expect there will be a lot less resistance from them as things move forward," I answered before adding, "Which reminds me Miss Militia wanted me to give you her number so she can set us up with and I quote, 'proper legal assistance.' I think she wanted to just talk a little too so that she could get an idea of what my home life is like or something."

I fished out the card the cape had nearly forgotten to hand me and handed it over. I wasn't surprised that her card featured a Captain America shield atop a spread of various firearms. It looked right for her.

When I went to bed that night the only thought that was present was "_Dad's there for me_." I slept peacefully for the first time since I triggered.

**-/ Interlude 4: The Wards  
**Dean Stansfield walked into the Ward's common room still largely in his silver and gunmetal costume he wore as Gallant. He let himself feel his compatriots' emotions with his power; Carlos was conflicted and apprehensive about something, Chris was agitated a struggling to juggle both whatever was on his mind and the contraption he was currently working on, and Dennis was bemused but the emotion was lined with concern. The only one who wasn't ridding negative emotions was Missy though the cheery crush of emotions that usually boiled out of her was over shadowed by some curiosity.

If it was one thing Gallant hated it was people keeping big secretes from one another and if the swirl of emotions he'd sensed since they left the school was any indication these secrets were starting to erode the team. Since the target of a lion's share of negative emotions had left to 'get some air' there was no better time to confront the issue. Dean demanded, "Alright out with it"

"Out with what?" Chris asked trying and failing to play innocent. The tinker was horrible at lying especially when he was preoccupied with one of his projects. At the moment that's exactly what he was, preoccupied with the components of what Dean was now pretty sure was supposed to be a boot. If it was one thing he had to get used to it was the fact that their tinker seemed to be almost habitually messy; there were about a dozen or so half-finished devices and their components spread across Chris' workshop, room, and the Wards' commons room. Dean preferred to keep things orderly though he'd never complain about it to Chris when the guy maintained his power suit in the place of its original inventor.

"Everyone is tippy toeing around. What's going on?"  
Dennis had been scribbling down notes about …something. When he looked up surprise was written on his face, "Wait who's doing what?"  
"Everyone is skirting around some elephant in the room and I was getting a sense that there was an added hostile element directed to Sophia. Since she's not here spill it. I don't like being kept in the dark," Dean elaborated.

No one said anything for a long while until Missy, in her green costume came over from the kitchenette and plopped down with much fanfare on the couch. While punching the straw into the little box of juice in her hands she asked, "Is this about Taylor knowing about Stalker?"  
"Who?" Dean asked not for the first time feeling like he needed to just hang out with the rest of the Wards outside of 'work.' He didn't know even a quarter of their friends despite the fact that all the guys went to the same school.  
"Taylor Hebert, the girl I talked to in the gym." Carlos said as he placed the helmet he wore as Aegis on the table, "And that's only the tip of what I'm holding back. I'd have to get permission from Piggot to share; same with Chris."  
"And you?"  
"Me? I'm not. Okay fine, its stuff Chris and I know from before. But we can't say; you know that," Dennis admitted. The two Wards had been upfront about their previous existence for the sake of making sure Aegis would trust them when either mentioned something they couldn't possibly have known. Dean wasn't exactly too keen on the idea but their past life knowledge had already saved their hides more than once so he was inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt when it came to what they would and wouldn't share.  
"Fine. Let's call the Director and get permission for Missy and me to be sworn in on …whatever it is."  
"Wait if it's heavy enough that the Director's burying it I'm not getting involved," the youngest member of the team asserted as she pulled on her visor, "You just tell me if it's really bad or not later, 'kay? Besides we're not supposed to let Stalker patrol solo so I'll play sitter."  
"Alright."  
"Thanks Missy," Aegis said.

The green clad heroine stepped into the elevator and gave a curt wave. Once she had been gone for a few moments the director's extension was dialed. They were left on the line for a few uneasy minutes as everyone in the room glanced at each other. Well except for Chris who took the opportunity to calibrate his pistol while reading the notes that Dennis had previously written.

"Wards, what's this about?" The Director's voice came over the line, she sounded a bit perturbed about something. Then again Piggot usually sounded like someone had just killed her cat so she still sounded like she had been having a better then usual day.  
"We're having problems with the secrets our group is keeping from one another," Dean said not bothering to beat round the bush, he had learned a more than a year ago that their director valued directness.

"Not to make this worse but…which ones?" The woman asked. The question wasn't that surprising there was a lot that Chris and Dennis had to keep close to their vest after they recalled something. Gallant knew, for example, that in their past lives he had died sometime this year, the information had made him reevaluate his position in life and he recognized that he had indeed changed because of it. The impact their information could have was staggering, He and Victoria hadn't fought in over a month a new record for them that he intended to try his hardest to stretch till at least the end of the year. If he survived that span he had a plan on what to do next; one involving a ring.

"The case you're reviewing and something from the past lives information," Carlos said. He might not know what secret Chris and Dennis were keeping but even without Dennis confirming it he could guess it involved their shared past lives it was after all the only time the Director talked to both of them about something and kept the entire thing quiet.  
"Involving Skitter?" Piggot asked.  
"What-"  
"Yeah," Chris said immediately cutting his leader's question off before it could start, "Pretty much everything I got involved in during the past week."  
"That's fine. So is it just you needing the info, Dean? I'm assuming the girls are out on patrol."  
"Yes. Missy's keeping Sophia company; though she expects me to tell her how bad of a secret is being kept."  
"Understood. I know you're good at keeping things quiet and I think we could benefit from some cross-communication on the subject. I didn't realize the strain these secrets were putting on the team."  
"It's understandable ma'am. And thank you."  
"You might wish you hadn't," Emily stated just before ending the call.

"Who's starting," Carlos asked he was a little off his game, he expected the secrets that were being kept from him had to do with Shadow Stalker in some way, once it had been mentioned he had been sure she was the root of the problem. He had definitely been walking on eggshells due to the ongoing investigation.  
"Chris, since he's in on both these secrets," Dennis said.  
"What? Oh come on. Damn it. Fine," The tinker grumbled, "Alright first off Skitter is pretty much the center of all this. What Dennis and I are keeping is she was in our previous life. Piggy asked me about her on Wednesday… I think? Anyway the thing is in our past life she was a villain. You think she's a bit creepy with those bug swarms, well she's fucking scary. We Wards fought her more than a few times and I still have nightmares about her bugs swarming us."  
"But that's not even the meat of it," Dennis said stepping into the conversation, "She became leader of the Undersiders and they basically took over the Bay. On two different occasions she took out Lung herself. Hell, she was instrumental in taking down the Slaughterhouse Nine. Yeah I said that. If you think that's reason enough to tippytoe around her you haven't heard the worse; she killed Alexandria."  
"How do you-"  
"I don't remember. Neither does Chris," the clown of group answered before the question could be fully formed.  
"But she wasn't all bad; in fact she eventually joined the Wards," Chris interjected, "By the time she did the public was on her side when it came to drawing lines in the sand. Consider that for a moment. The weird thing is she's months early. We both don't recall her showing up until like April at the earliest."

"She's been attending Peerless since early January and I can tell from classes that' she's been a cape for a lot longer," Carlos said adding his own information to the mix, "If you need more than my word just look at the coming out party she threw herself. I'm leaning towards more than a year of experience beforehand. Well sort of."  
"Sort of?" Dean asked.  
"It has to do with the other thing. Skitter delivered a ton of evidence on Friday. It included lethal bolts Shadow Stalker fired in the past month including one that was pulled out of Grue. More than that and a large reason why our meet and greet at Winslow got pushed up a month as because the majority of the evidence was of a bullying campaign Sophia participated in that targeted a girl at Winslow. That's the Taylor Missy mentioned," Carlos paused and bit his lip, "I thought this was about Shadow Stalker. But if Skitter's the source of everything there's more to say. Taylor's been going to peerless for about the same amount of time as Skitter and the more I think about it the more I see connections. I mean that evidence, a lot of it was video from camera's in Taylor's glasses. She was also the one who collected the bolt that had been shot into Grue…by pulling it out of him."

"You think Taylor is Skitter?" Chris asked wishing not for the first time that he or Dennis had been able to recall the cape's civilian identity, "I mean it makes sense she gets powers, learns Stalker is Sophia and is why she's not getting help from the school. So she drops a pile of evidence on our laps telling us to clean up our mess. Oh damn."  
"What?"  
"If that's true she was practically threatening to go Carrie on the school," Chris said, "Remember what you told me she said?"  
"Yeah I do. At least a part of her wanted a reason, an excuse, to just go to town on them. But I've been in that situation before. And I might not have known about the bullying before Skitter dropped a duffel bag full of evidence on us but I know the girl. If she hurts anyone it's going to be accidental," Carlos said with a certainty that brokered no argument.  
"You sure?" Dennis asked anyway the expression on his face describing just how little he liked entertaining the idea of the scenario that had been suggested.

"I am," Carlos stated, "Besides, yes I've got ample reason to suspect that Skitter and Taylor are the same person but there's a lot of differences and reason to not. Skitter and Taylor may fight similarly, but Skitter is far more skilled and quicker to react I'd almost say that Skitter trained Taylor but that doesn't match up from what the girls have told us about their relationship. Further Skitter's grasp of her powers suggests lot more experience than someone who'd have freshly triggered and there was an event in the bullying campaign that could have definitely have been a trigger event.  
"Then theirs other little things that don't match up. Taylor and Skitter don't talk the same, I'm not saying their voices are different; that's obvious, I'm talking about their wording. There are differences in mannerisms and stuff. That's not even counting the fact that Miss Militia had a conversation in person with Skitter while Taylor was in the school's gym with us."  
"Or the way Taylor practically melted when she realized the bullying was going to end. I can't see the Skitter I remember doing that," Chris added.

"Okay. So we have suspicions that Taylor Hebert might be Skitter. I can see how it might have been troublesome with you Carlos. But the real thing that was gnawing at us was this investigation into Sophia. That's big. Way bigger," Dean said drawing the conversation to what he considered was the most important subject.

"It's not like we didn't expect it to happen someday. Sophia was always rebelling and playing antihero whenever our backs were turned," Dennis said.  
"Yeah," Chris echoed.  
"Any idea how long we're going to have to act like we don't know what's going on?" Dean asked. He might be able to keep a secret but that didn't mean he liked lying to someone day in and day out.  
It was Carlos who responded, not surprising since he was actually in on the case on at least some level, "Not really but the way Piggot was I'd not be surprised if it was soon. She wants to move on this as soon as possible. We're just waiting for legal to get their ducks in a row."  
"I just hope it's not long enough that she realizes we trust her even less than normal."  
"We trusted her?" Dennis joked, "When?"

* * *

At about the same time half way across the city Vista finally caught up with Shadow stalker. The young heroine never cared for the fact that Shadow Stalker's PRT phone had a tracking chip in it but there was no denying its usefulness when the older girl when off reservation. Sophia was grouched at the edge of a roof overlooking an empty parking lock. Given the way the wind wasn't moving her cloak the probationary ward was in her shadow state.

Vista whisper hissed, "Shadow."

The black clad ward didn't respond verbally instead she put a hand palm down about a half foot of the roof. Vista dropped to her belly as silently as possible and crawled up to the cape. Upon reaching her the green clad heroine looked out over the lot and found about twenty gang members loitering around. The part that struck it as odd was the fact that the group was composed of E88 and ABB membership. Among the ABB was a long haired woman who looked to be made of metal wearing only the outer layer of a kimono. Jīn was one of Lung's lieutenants, according to the information Vista had to study Jin was despite having the potential not a fighter, she preferred to handle book keeping and other relatively mundane tasks for the gang. In fact beside a few instances of her getting caught in combat she didn't actually have an entry on her rap sheet that didn't include the word 'accessory.'

"This is non-negotiable. I don't care if the police are watching your normal routes you do not send your product through our territory," the metal cape said enunciating in perfect English.  
"Listen you yellow bitch," one of the Empire's thugs, possibly the leader of the group started. His response was cut off by the racking of a shotgun by one of the ABB members.

Shadow Stalker made a motion towards her companion jingling her hand in front of the other Ward with pinky and thumb outstretched from her fist. Vista nodded pulling out her phone and dialing up base. The space warper wondered if her friends were done having their super-secret meeting yet.

"Control," Dennis said over the line.  
"Me and Stalker are about to engage ABB and E88 goons in the empty lot of Cole Avenue. Jīn's onsite"  
"Right. Word says to not target Jīn and you won't have to worry about her stepping in. It's 'Shadow Stalker and I' by the way.'"  
"Yes Dad," Vista said. She wasn't sure why but Dennis was always correcting her grammar when he caught her. It was a little annoying but she knew he was just trying to help in some way. She turned towards her partner and whispered, "Did you get that?"  
Sophia nodded as she replaced the concussive bolt she had loaded with the far more common and less expensive tranquilizer bolt. At about the same moment Dennis' voice reminded the pair, "Check in when you're done."  
"Yes Dad," the Vista echoed while rolling her eyes. It wasn't that unusual for the Wards to be told not to engage particular capes. There were varying reasons, a cape might be too powerful, too violent, or had a power set that completely countered the wards. Others like Jīn didn't fight unless provoked and were even at times a source of information. Vista had met the metal woman before and had been specifically warned away from an area during a patrol. She later found out that Oni Lee had been in the previously mentioned area. The gesture probably saved her life. Jīn also had a reputation for being very powerful going for her. Last April she had been ordered by Lung to prove herself capable of standing beside him, she did so by finding Hookwolf and literally dismembering him. That was to the PRT's knowledge the only time she went looking for combat on any scale.

"You yellow lady," the thug corrected himself, "You want me going back to Kaiser and telling him the little wish she was him cape was the one who got in the way of the delivery."  
"If that's what it takes to leave our territory, then yes." She responded evenly.  
"You're not worried 'bout the boss?"  
"Not really. We have an understanding he doesn't mess with me I don't give him a new hole to spew his racist bullshit through."  
"You cunt!" the gangbanger exclaimed as he pulled a piece from his waistband and got it about halfway to chest level before he was gunned down by an AK wielding ABB thug. From there bullets flew and the collection of gang members dived for what little cover there was to be had in the abandoned but littered lot. One had even attempted to use Jīn's bullet proof body for cover; the wisdom of the action was debatable since he died shortly after because the girl was so much smaller then he was. The cape had been the only one who hadn't moved more then to look at her now tattered kimono.

Shadow stalker added her own fire to the mix targeting those wielding the more dangerous weapons. Vista in the meantime started warping the space between the two groups to make the bullets fired suddenly redirect in midflight and bury themselves into the dirt. She noted that the space that Jīn occupied was warped much slower indicating that the cape was still organic. She'd have to remember to put that in her report.

Apparently Jīn had noticed the lack of bullets impacting her and looked around it didn't take her long to discover Vista since her green costume stood out against the night. To Vista's surprise instead of alerting either group she simply turned and started walking…and promptly found herself moving in a circle despite walking in a straight line. She paused glanced around and then jumped up about seventy five feet creates an explosion of earth that swirled around in the distorted space. At the zenith of her jump she pitched herself forward and cleared the prison the Ward had created. Vista grumbled as the metal form landed waved casually and started walking off as if nothing happened.

By that point Shadow Stalker had run out of tranquilizer bolts and dropped into the lot to mix things up in melee. She showed no fear as she rushed gangbangers that out massed her by at least a hundred pounds. Of course there were good reason for her lack of fear, while Vista distorted space to cut off others from helping Sophia's target the cape utilized her power to avoid any reprisal from her prey.

There was no block, parry, evade, or counter in her fighting style, instead she just rained blows on her target phasing herself whenever her opponent would have otherwise landed an attack. She kept this rush up until the grown man fell to the ground and didn't get back up. Vista simply watched as the girl repeated the process to each that was still standing. She didn't even wait for Shadow Stalker to beat the second guy into oblivion before calling headquarters.

* * *

That night Carlos, while rummaging through the fridge at home for a late night snack, had an epiphany that made everything fit. How could Taylor Hebert be Skitter when the latter showed ample amount of experience in both the use of her powers and general fighting? How do you explain the combination of separate yet related powers she possessed between her bug control, bio manipulation and apparent mover power? Taylor Hebert was Skitter and this was not her first life.

**-/ Author Notes:**  
In response to some of the reviews for last chapter: Curse you Spell Checker for leading me astray! ...That's what happens when I read a damn chapter eight times. I really should be betaing these chapters or something but I'm pretty much publishing them as soon as I feel it's done. Any rate, I feel like I've checked this chapter pretty well hopefully I don't have any cases of wrong word usages or other hilarious bits.

The Wards at Winslow was something that took about four rewrites to get right. One of the problems came with me writing the original draft while dealing with insomnia, hence Taylor using it as an excuse later. Another was deciding to include it during chapter three or waiting till after the chapter but I had a decent time skip dropping in before the next chapter. I also felt like I could have severed the chapter between the weekend events and… Huh I totally did. How about that. Will wonders never cease?

Like chapter three this one actually went on a great deal and saw some of its content tossed to the next chapter. About four thousand words this time. I have an extra eleven thousand words of random scenes that are also eventually going to appear…somewhere. .

I specifically expanded on Mr. Michelson's class –instead of Taylor barely making it to class before falling asleep- to elaborate on some of the differences on this world's history compared to Worm's after reading some of the comments. I didn't mention it there but the PRT is actually older than the Protectorate or Wards by a large margin originally spawned from police agencies, or rather a further specialized unit spawned from SWAT. At some point in the late 50s or early 60s the PRT separated and became its own entity.

You know where I really want some comments laid in? The Wards. Am I getting them right? If I'm not getting them right then am I at least making them entertaining? I admittedly need to go back and reread things like the Wards Interlude. It's …been a while.

Since I'm on the topic, Clockblocker and Kid Win are outfitted slightly differently than they were in worm. My description of the changes to Clockblocker's costume will come whenever Taylor gets within a few feet of him. And as I alluded to a few times (I think a few times), Taylor gaining a second power isn't unusual among second lifers. It's more common than it is not.

Both Chris and Dennis have a second power heavily related to their first. Chris' second power is basically the same as Armsmaster's tinker specialization, the similarity is to the point that they can actually co-op each other's designs and work collaboratively. For example, Armsmaster made Gallant's powersuit, but Kid Win maintains it. That said you won't see him pull out a nano-thorn weapon any time soon, if ever. He's still big on blasters. It's common for second lifers' new powers to take a form largely identical to those they were exposed to. In this Dennis differs from most, his second power is also time based but as far as I can think has no correlation to the powers of any other.

Jīn will appear again, her power is basically point blank Ferrokinesis. She uses it primarily to create a second skin of metal with some minor shaping going on to disguise herself. She has 'absolute' control over any metal that enters her powers range…which ends at 5 cm from her body. 'Body' in this instance includes her hair. My ratings for her is Brute 3/Shaker 2. Her show of dismembering Hookwolf had been a case of picking the biggest target that was extremely vulnerable to her powers and making the biggest spectacle she could of it. She by the way didn't kill him and he's pretty much the same as we remember him.

I should point out that I've not been in high school for a good long while (graduated in '04) and I went to a little backwater school (Louisiana's Patterson High fyi). Any rate Somewhere along the lines I got the impression that Winslow operates on a seven class block, versus the four class block I had in high school so it was even harder for me to recall little details about high school. Last time I had a seven class block was in middle school.

Worm established that Taylor has an advanced computer course for homeroom, Glady's World Issues class right before lunch, and Art some time afterwards. In a previous chapter I put Michelson's History Class as her second period and in this one I specified that Art was her last class. The last two classes are English for third and Math for fifth. I'll probably stick to a similar schedule when she makes her way to Arcadia.

On a side note: How did Taylor fit in a locker anyway? I seem to remember every locker I ever had was way too small to fit someone in one that wasn't like…eight? And Taylor is supposed to 'relatively' tall. I guess the problem I have is I've always seen 'double decker' lockers in schools. The only place I've seen otherwise was in video games. And my school's populations were tiny. My graduating class had like a hundred people. Not kidding.


	5. Chapter 5: Agressive Response

**-/ Chapter 5: Aggressive Response /-**

Carlos had woke up the same way he always did getting nailed in the face with one of his pillows by his kid sister while being called something in Japanese. He rolled and groaned, pushing himself up to a sitting position. At a thought a short of adrenaline coursed through his body doing wonders to wake him up. Before he realized he could do that Carlos had never been much of a morning person, it would have taken about an hour for him to actually wake fully up normally. He had a hard time going to sleep after last night's revelation. He had been a jumble of conflicted thoughts. His hypothesis made too much sense and filled in too many holes. Eventually he settled on the asking Dennis or Chris if it made as much sense to them and he'd have to do it before tomorrow afternoon when he'd go to Peerless and see Taylor. Otherwise he wouldn't know how to deal with her and, if they were separate people, Skitter.

"Carlos are you getting ready?" a woman's voice called from down stairs among the clatter of plates and utensils.  
"Yes ma'am" he shouted through his door to his foster mother. Rosemary probably had too many kids to take care of legally but none of them wanted to leave, she was too nice and too motherly. Foster kids like Carlos knew the system could stick you with someone that made your life a living hell or just plain miserable so when you found a good family you held on tight with both hands. When the caseworkers came around and saw that determination in the faces of kids that they usually had seen at some of the weakest moments of their lives…well it took a special kind of person to try to break a child's resolve like that.

Carlos knew he had been a handful before becoming a Ward. He had rap sheet; there were only two entries but he had a rap sheet. He'd been rebellious, inconsiderate, and a victim of bullying at his previous school. He had been in need of a good kick to in his seat to get him to grow up and shape up. That kick came in the form of learning he had triggered during the bullying he suffered at his last school. It had taken surprisingly long to surface; his strength was based on adrenaline highs, and it wasn't like he went around getting busted up for the hell of it, and his flight took a certain mind set to trigger so none of his powers really reared up on average days.

After that revelation he had marched himself right up to the PRT and asked to join. Over the following year and a half the Wards become a second family, complete with a parental figure in the form of a particular stern director. He'd be graduating soon, as silly as it was, into the Protectorate. He already knew he'd argue against the transition and then after inexorably losing that battle request for some sort of liaison position with the group. After all you don't let go of a good family.

He brought the discipline the Director had all but beaten into his hide home. He addressed Rosemary as ma'am, was as polite as he could be, stern when he helped herd the others through various tasks, and though he'd never admit it Rosemary's confusion on her finances were because he kept sneaking money into her account. On mornings like today that involved getting himself and his little brothers and sisters ready for school, slapping some heads and ordering them to finish breakfast.

"Peerless is after school to day right?" Rosemary asked as he walked down stairs now in his civilian 'uniform' a pair of jeans and a black nondescript shirt that was a size bigger than necessary to somewhat hide his physique. A leather collar and wrist bands harkened back to his days as a rebellious punk willing to steal because he could. While he didn't need it with the modifications that his power had done his biology, it was cold enough that he'd be wearing a rustic leather jacket which would further disguise how well defined he was.

"Yes, ma'am. Then work till late like usual," He said wondering if the other Wards used the term for their activities when talking in ear shot of family members not in on their double life. Rosemary was; it had been her idea to join the Wards. Her brother had apparently been one before she lost him to an Endbringer.

* * *

As every day he drove to school in the beat up rust colored Isuzu pickup with Carlie, Rosemary's only child by blood. Carlie was in on the secret, she had actually been the one to notice that he wasn't normal when they… well he had screwed up that relationship royally. Somehow neither of the women ever mentioned what had nearly happened. What he nearly did. Carlie was an attractive, intelligent young woman only a half year younger then him and he had been a hormone fueled rebel that was constantly pushing his boundaries. He had over stepped them to an absurd amount in that moment but because he stopped … and because he got the discipline he needed in the Wards no one ever made a remark on it.

They remained friends. Or rather they became friends in the aftermath. And these morning commutes were the only time they were really alone. Alone to talk about things they couldn't inside the house. She, while still looking out the cab's window, asked, "How was Winslow yesterday?"  
"Educational," Carlos replied, "I'm glad none of us go there. The place…I feel bad for Taylor having to go to school there."  
"Your girlfriend Taylor?" Carlie presumed slathering on ten times her Irish accent to make the world 'girlfriend' far, far more suggestive then it would otherwise have been.  
"She's not my girlfriend," the Ward replied defensively, "She's not even my type."  
"Carlos, you're a masochist and you described her as quote 'able to kick my ass across the room' that sounds like your definition of girlfriend material right there."  
"I'm not a-"  
"Or maybe she just doesn't have the assets you'd prefer in a partner. Her breasts too big, hips too wide? I know you prefer lithe women."  
"Stop. Just drop it."  
"Okay," she said and she did for about thirty seconds, "What was so bad about the school?"  
"The faculty. I wanted to hurt half of them by the time we left."  
"Geeze."

* * *

"Carlos!"  
The teen turned as he pulled his bag out of the truck and shut the cab door. Chirs jogged up to him, the expression on his face told him enough, "You left you notes at home again and there's a pop quiz."

"No. Of course not… maybe…yes." The tinker said his shoulders slumping to indicate that he must have forgotten them because of his ADD. He was likely bouncing around his house the majority of the morning working on this and that. Chris was the only Ward that you could tell for what he was the second you entered his house. Everything electronic or mechanical had been taken apart, reengineered, and put back together usually with added functionality. For example, his toaster buttered the bread as they popped out. And he did it for no other reason than he could make it do that. Another would be the old game system that played CD, DVD, Blue-Ray, Playstation, Xbox, and Game Cube games…and let's not even get started on that the controllers looked like. In a way it was a good thing that He wasn't popular and was an only child. No one ever went over to see the mess of tinker tech besides the other Wards.

"Which class? Spanish?"  
"Si Senior" Chris said with such a horribly bad fake accent that the Puerto Rican shook his head in disbelief. Still he dug out his notes, not that they were very comprehensive since he could actually speak the language better than his teacher.  
"One condition," Carlos said as he held firmly onto the notebook when Chris tried to take it from him, "I need to run something pass you. About what we talked about last night."  
Chris looked at the notebook, to Carlos, to Carlie, and then back to Carlos. He tried to cast a meaningful glance to the side that just utterly failed. Instead Carlie spoke up and said, "Well I can see this is about working at Taco Bell. So, I'm going. Gone. Bye."

It was only when the girl had disappeared into the rabble of teenagers did Chris speak, "She knows?"  
"Of course she knows. She figured it out before I did."  
"How does that even work?"  
"It's complicated and I'm not sharing."  
"Okay…" The tinker paged through the Spanish notebook. Carlos took the class an hour after Chris did. In a way Chris was glad the senior had taken the class as an easy elective to pad out his grades, he shared most classes with Dean or Dennis, but Spanish wasn't one of them. The empath had taken the course as a freshman and Dennis' electives had been filed since he flunked sophomore English.

Remembering the promise Chris asked, "What's this thing?"  
"I figured out the Taylor/Skitter thing. How it can work."  
"And?"  
"She's a second lifer," Carlos said deadpan.  
The reaction was delayed in a way one usually expected in cartoons. Chris had muttered in the affirmative and kept paging through the notes until he paused and the color drained from his face. For not the first time Carlos was glad he wasn't burdened by the memories of a previous life even if it mean he didn't have an additional power at his disposal. It took almost a minute more for the tinker to say anything and even then it was just a ghost of a whisper, "You're kidding me. That's the fucking scariest thing I've heard this life."

* * *

Normally I'd question the intelligence behind whoever decided that Brockton Bay needed an aquarium given how close the sea was. Right now however I was thankful. I wasn't however happy about the current situation. I had sneaked into the aquarium to collect one of the things I needed for some of the ideas I had. All I needed to do was touch one particular fish and I'd be on my way. I wasn't even going to take it, just pet it. I bet I could have just gone to management and they'd let the weird new cape do whatever it was she wanted but I didn't want others to know on the off chance that they might figure out where I was going with this.

So it's understandable that I was outright annoyed when some demented ecowarrior of a cape decided that the aquarium was a symbol of oppression of all aquatic life...or something. The rhetoric he was spouting off was fairly ridiculous. The outfit he was wearing was even more so. I don't know how to describe it; it reminded me of those of a Vegas cape with the amount of exposed skin and suggestive nature of his costume. The fact that the ecowarrior was some sort of changer or case fifty three made him fodder for rule thirty four. His appearance was that of a very well defined swimmer that would be counted as absolutely smoking hot if you ignored the sheen of fine silver blue scales that stood in for his skin, the webbed digits that ended in claws, or the fact that each time he opened his mouth you saw rows of shark teeth. Yep, total beefcake material right here.

He kept shouting at the group he had taken hostage, most were members of the Aquarium's staff, but the real reason I couldn't walk away from this confrontation was the kindergarteners and their two chaperones that had been caught up in this. The phone in my hand vibrated indicating a hit on the Parahuman Online wiki. I skimmed over the entry and nearly burst out laughing. 'Surge' as the ecowarrior was known was a hydrokinetic capable of great feats, the caveat? He didn't create water with his power and had to be in the body of water to affect it with his power. Outside of that all he had going for him was the natural weapons of his body and the ability to breath in both air and water. I slipped my phone into its place in at the small of my back; spared a moment to make sure the swarm was in place before I dropped down from my perch in the rafters.

"The creatures of the sea are far more noble then you humans. One day you'll see, we'll wipe the slate clean and the children of the ocean will be free of the oppression of you surface dwellers and-"  
"- Bugs will inherit the earth," I interrupted my swarm voice breaking into his tirade.  
"What?" Surge spun around and found me just five feet away.  
"You heard me. Your sea creatures will rule the seven seas and everything but most of them aren't exactly amphibious. So the surface, as you so eloquently described it, will be the domain of the cockroaches."  
"Ha. I do not know who you are but no number of bugs can ever hope to compete against our glory."

"I'm Skitter; my swarm says otherwise," I said pointing towards the ceiling. One of the chaperons screamed in surprise. A notable mass of bugs darkened the rafters only really visible when they moved their chitinous bodies. I had been calling bugs to the swarm for quite a while as I watched the idiot of a cape go on and on. I had stopped keeping count when the swarm reached a million individuals that had been almost two minutes ago. The fish-man's black eyes went saucer-like just before I gave the swarm the order to descend.

As more than twice his body weight in bugs feel towards him Surge yelped and pounced with surprising speed. I fell backward, dropping to the ground on my back and letting him sail into the side of one of the tanks in the area. The swarm obscured me as I leapt back to my feet. I moved in aiming to put him down fast and hard; the longer the battle when on the more likely he'd slip away and into any of the numerous tanks. Bugs and water didn't really mix all that well so not only would he be getting fuel for his power but also a type of refuge from the swarm. Of course it cut both ways; until he actually got in the water I had the upper hand. I just needed maintain it long enough to end this battle.

While I distracted him with my physical presence and the biting and stinging mass of my swarm I sent spiders and cockroaches forward. I had them organized in pairs; spiders spinning silk that the cockroaches would wind over one limb while the spider traversed another. I was hoping that the maneuver would be fast enough that I could bind the fish man while he was still active. I wasn't really counting on it though as I moved in.

"What are you waiting for?" a portion of my swarm asked the hostages, "Go. I'll keep gill-lips here busy, but it'll be easier if I don't have to worry about your safety."

The chorus of sounds seemed to have the desired effect as they began maneuvering according to the swarm's directions. An arrow of flies lead them out towards where the police were just arriving having been informed of the occurrence by one of the staff members that I saw get the hell out of dodge when the initial event occurred. Luckily the PRT wasn't far behind I could already hear their distinct sirens.

I sank my claw into the muscle of his bicep when he slashed at me and followed up with a quick series of palm strikes to the face dazing him. It was nice to see a cape actually be affected by my hand to hand techniques like a normal person. I stepped in and hip tossed him to the ground. The move caused my claws to rake thin channels of flesh out of his arm and I briefly hoped he had an unlisted healing factor. I slammed a foot down on his chest to brace myself before wrenching the arm. He screamed in pain as I dislocated the shoulder.

To my surprise when I released his arm expecting him subdued he lashed out knocking my foot off of him and out from under myself. I hit the ground on my rump and he rolled away before leaping up to the lip of the nearest tank of the Aquarium. In midair with no possibility of evading the attack my swarm struck. About a million and a half bugs, mostly cockroaches and other 'filler' smashed into Surge. While each individual weighed in only a few grams at max en mass and at full speed their combined exerted force was notable indeed. With nothing to brace against the swarm threw to the ground in an ungainly heap.

My bugs renewed their stinging and biting; the ones I knew were particularly painful or triggered a nervous response went for the joints. After all it was hard to get up if your limbs were spacing out on you. This in turn made it more difficult for my web weaving pairs to bind him as more than a few were jerked off their respective limbs by the sudden movements. Small sacrifices.

By the time I had regained my feet Surge had managed to get to his knees and the elbow of his functioning arm. He kept trying to get his arm more solidly under him but with all the twitching it was an exercise in futility. I didn't waste time being nice about it. I took a few quick steps to build momentum and threw a kick into the cape's gut. He grunted and managed to roll with the blow again surprising just how much punishment he was taking. Somehow he managed to end the roll in a kneeling position and got to his feet. The ecowarrior snarled as he charged reinforcing the inhuman image in my mind.

Like a linebacker the aquatic cape tackled me to the ground. I struggled as he straddled me, my elbow connected with his face. He pulled himself away and utilized the superior reach of his remaining arm to slash at me. The spider silk of my costume was more than up to task, making the clawing attack feel like little more than a particularly heavy-handed slap. When he went for a second swing I caught his wrist and with utilizing my swarm to aim the strike drove my claw into the inside of his elbow. He shrieked in pain before abruptly disengaging. I threw a departing swipe of my claw that drew blood as he leapt off and over me up to the lip of the nearest tank. Even as I ordered the swarm to try to dislodge him with another charge I knew it was too late I held no illusions about what'd happen next as he dived into the water.

As he gracefully dived into the drink I sent the majority of my swarm into the rafters to avoid the tidal wave I knew I'd be hammered by soon enough. The streamers of blood and the wounds they originated from disappeared almost instantly as he seemed to become rejuvenated upon contact with the water. The aquatic cape made a quick lap around the small tank before sending himself barreling in my direction. The tank never stood a chance it shattered well before Surge touched it. The water, far more kinetic then it should be, slammed bodily into me throwing my form directly into another tank that cracked with the impact of however many tons of water had issued forth.

My swarm descended as he lost control of the water as it flowed down drains in the floor. The cape crashed into me clutching my neck in one webbed hand and slamming me against the tank again. My vision swam as I fought to maintain control over my swarm. Said swarm bit and stung him, he growled and slammed me repeatedly into the reinforced glass. It was already spider webbed from the initial impact and we both had to know that it'd give away sooner rather than later. While I assumed his plan was to drown me or…something after the tank broke I couldn't help idly wondering if he knew what was in the tank.

"You will die here land-dweller," he intoned as he pulled me towards him in preparation for another slam my own attempts to claw my way out of his iron grasp being ineffectual. I smiled as he put his body into the slam. My claws when ineffective because I wanted them to be and when the glass cracked and shattered. One claw held his arm tightly as the other reached out and grasped the trapezius muscles next to neck. My thumb found its way into a pressure point and the fight fled out of his frame.

When he dropped to his knees he did so into a group of no less than four electric eels that had been disgorged from the freshly broken tank. He howled in pain as I let go of him and left him to thrash. At five hundred volts and amps each the electroshocks wasn't particularly dangerous, but they were painful. I coiled the various strands of silk cord that hung from his body and secured him. Not able to pass the chance I quipped, "Seems your sea friends don't like you either."

The PRT accompanied by Assault and Battery entered a few minutes later. The circuit patterns of the super heroine's costume was glowing vibrantly indicating her power was ready for release while the PRT troopers moved with weapons at the ready, Assault on the other hand was a study in contrasts as he casually stretched his arms as the group moved in. They found Surge hanging upside down from the rafters cocooned loosely in spider silk save for the head as well as the electric eels sharing a tank with a very annoyed looking octopus. The school of tiny fish from the first tank Surge had leapt in were however a lost cause. As for me, I was sitting on an over turned bucket nearby finishing the fifth bug that carried the new piece of biotechnology. While I could certainly recall the biological make up of anything I touched, it was handy to have a bug serving as future reference. Looking towards the two capes I said, "I'm not paying for repairs. He broke everything."

Assault chuckled in response.

* * *

It took about fifteen minutes to answer all the questions for the PRT and police reports. The owner of the aquarium thanked me for my assistance and assured me they wouldn't dream of taking any sort of legal action against me; especially when fish face was such an easier target. I was even able to snatch a copy of the security camera recordings of the event. The area all the fighting had taken place in had three different cameras that had at one time or another caught bits of the action. I intended to hang on to them for future review.

The passage of another forty five minutes saw me getting back to my lair. When I checked my cell it indicated that my art class was just beginning. I had skipped school at the beginning of lunch break with the plan of simply to racing to the aquarium, touching the fish, and getting back to school before Math. The problem was the more I thought about it the less I wanted to go back to school and deal with the terrible trio. It wasn't going to be long until they got their just rewards, but really why subject myself to their antics when I could be doing something productive like working in my lair?

With that in mind I had stopped off at a local super market and bought a few pounds of ground meat. Now that I had arrived I made my way to the garage where I was housing my soon to be Atlas 2.0. The beetle was about a tenth the size of what it would eventually be and I was already making some of the big sweeping changes I had designed for the final form. The biggest change so far was in the legs. I made them more reminiscent of a jumping spider's with eight total and larger thicker ones in the front with successive legs progressively smaller. The foremost legs ended in a lobster or scorpion-like claws. These forelegs were still primarily used as legs though; the integrated claws just gave my creation another option for manipulating the environment.

I tore open a few of the one pound logs of beef and dropped them in a tray on the floor for my future mount. As it started gorging on the feast I placed my hands on its shell. I tweaked the creature's biology reinforcing the fledging systems that I had installed the night before to make it capable of surviving at the size I intended. I had to make an entirely new respiratory and circulatory systems, reorganize the musculature to pack it more densely, and added a rudimentary skeleton to help support it all. Even the digestive system had needed an overhaul. The abdomen right now was chiefly just fat storage and secondary stomachs to help quickly convert meals into useable material for future alterations, that would change in the future.

My power thrummed as I started working on the bug's head. First I started with the eyes dissolving its original pair while generating the beginnings of not two new ones but ten. Again I referenced jumping spiders which possess fairly excellent vision; the majority of the eyes were positioned in a way to provide maximum coverage area while four larger primary eyes provided human-like sight that dived into the ultraviolet spectrum. Following that was the addition of two new pairs of mandibles one set more like tusks than anything while the other were a hard-shelled chelicerae outfitted with fangs that would eventually have venom to inject into its victims. The final modification for the day was to start growing a massive horn from the forehead.

It had taken little less than half an hour to make all those modifications but now I could feel the throbbing that signaled the onset of a power induced migraine. Definitely the worst part of my new power since no medicine seemed to be able to dull it. I headed back into the main chamber and went about dropping the remaining three pounds of the ground meat I bought into other trays. The meat would be feasted on by the various bugs as they continued my breeding programs to inflate the swarm's numbers. That done I retreated into one of the bedrooms to lie down and try to sleep through the worst of the migraine before heading home. Curling up on the comfortable bed I drifted off to the symphony of the swarm.

* * *

When I pulled myself out of bed it was just after four in the afternoon. The nap had been fantastic for my migraine, it was still there just the effect was much more subdued than it had been early on. I briefly wondered if Tattletale's migraines were similarly front loaded. I wasn't enough of a stickler for punishment to try any more bio-manipulation today but that didn't mean I was done working.

I focused on Atlas 2.0 through my power and after checking to see that the various mutations had taken, I went about encoding the creature's mind with the knowledge needed to utilize its new body parts. The minds I could control were so malleable to my powers that I didn't even need to touch them to permanently alter their though processes. For example, I had my widow weavers programed to continue weaving the new pieces of my costume even when I wasn't around. As long as I checked in with them every twelve hours or so to monitor their progress they'd perform their task just as well as if I had been instructing them in person.

One of Atlas 2.0's eyes hadn't formed properly; I promised myself I'd fix it tomorrow. I learned that while I could 'flash modify' a bug's physiology on the spot most of those changes wouldn't be hardcoded into the organism's genetics and tended to produce more acute headaches. On the other hand mutations encoded directly into the patient's genetics and allowed to develop overtime tended to be less stressful both on my own mind and the subject's physiology.

I did another check on the lair. The widow weavers that weren't actively spinning silk were breeding and feeding, the weaver wasp queen I had finished on Saturday had been adopted by the previously modified workers and was in the process of building a hive. Beyond those were the hives and colonies of more mundane bugs that were multiplying like wildfire. Overall the swarm was flourishing under my watchful eye.

Beyond the bugs I still had a lot of documentation to go through to figure out what even half of the tinker tech in my lair was. I wasn't going to move such artefacts without knowing what they were, as a result the workshop and armory had been left pretty much untouched. And that was not even half of the research I needed to do; I needed to learn more about electronic tracing and how to block it or if possible misdirect it and I had a ton of research to do on the local cape scene. That last one was the most important. During my debut I had been caught unawares by Feng Lao, the cape hadn't been particularly hard to deal with but going into battle against capes with no idea what their powers were was a quick way to end up in the morgue…or worse.

With that mind I grabbed the backpack that contained a change of sweats that I wore for my Krav Maga class at Sam's Self Defense and headed to the nearest library. When I was above ground I slipped out my phone and dialed home, Dad usually got home around about four thirty and I didn't want him to worry about where I was. On the fifth ring the phone picked up, "Hello?"  
"Hey Dad, I'm just checking in," I told him glad I had informed him that I got a cellphone. Though admittedly I had lied about why I had saying I had bought it primarily so I could keep up with Sara. I did talk to Sara a lot, though she hadn't been the motiving factor behind the purchase. There was no way I was going to tell him the smart phone was primarily used to temporarily store the footage my mask's camera recorded while I was running around as Skitter.  
"Where are you?" he asked.  
"On my way to Magellan Library. I skipped after lunch again."  
"Taylor-"  
" I know. I know," I said cutting him off, "I should just soldier through it but it's harder now knowing that there's actually a case being made and all that but still dealing with the day to day humiliations."  
"I…I don't like it Taylor but I do understand," Dad's tone echoed his words.  
"Thanks. That means a lot to me Dad."

I had promised myself I'd be as honest as I possibly could with Dad this time around. That I'd work harder at maintaining our relationship than letting us become estranged like last time. Now I told myself that I'd weather my final days at Windslow for Dad. He wanted me to stay in school so I'd do it. That simple. Okay it probably wasn't going to be that simple, but I wasn't about to let the bullies win.

"So the Library?"  
"Yeah I'm going to stay there until class. Well I'll leave with enough time to grab something to eat before class I think."  
"Do you have enough money?"  
"Yep," I said while thinking, _"Of course, I've not even put a dent in the spoils from the Merchants, much less any of the other night's takes."_  
"Alright sweatheart."  
"Talk to you when I get home."  
"It's Tuesday, you always crash as soon as you get home on Tuesdays. We'll talk in the morning. Stay safe kiddo."  
"I will," I assured him just before the line went dead.

* * *

When I logged into Parahuman Online a few minutes later I found a private message from 'NWPanacea' waiting for me. I paused trying to figure out when I might have gotten in contact with the healer especially as my Arthropod Lovers Anonymous screen name. When I opened the massage I got the answer.

'I know this is kind of out of the blue and all but I was recently roped into a double date by my sister Glory Girl with Gallant and Vigilant. You probably don't want to know or care about our social lives. It gets weird at times. Where was I? Right, well during the date Vigilant gave me this contact information because apparently you were looking to get in contact with me? Well here I am. What did you want?'

I blinked. Wow, I had been so wrapped up in everything I forgot to try to get in contact with Panacea. I checked her profile to make sure she was the real deal. It was obvious almost immediately that she hadn't been the one who made the profile it had all the same wording and tone as New Wave's website but it was also a verified account. Good enough.

I wrote a short reply indicating that I had a similar power set as her and Testament and wanted to meet so she could possibly tutor me. I offered to pay for said service and made it clear that I had no problem if she brought Victoria to the meeting for security. Of course I tried to word it so it wouldn't sound like I had any idea how to deal with Glory Girl should things come to blows. I did know how, just not how I could do it without a gun.

For the majority of the following hour I researched the Parahumans of Brockton Bay. Empire Eighty Eight still had a lion's share of parahuman power but the numbers each group had at their disposal was significantly higher. The ABB had more than double possibly even four times as many parahumans in the gang depending on if you counted 'possible parahumans' or not, and that was pretty much typical of Brockton Bay and even the world in general. The only group that didn't have significantly higher parahuman population ironically was the Protectorate and Wards. Instead most of the heroic additions had formed their own groups, went solo, or more commonly were so far into antihero that it was hard to define them as heroes. The numbers shouldn't come as that much of a surprise given that there were fourth and even fifth generation parahumans in play but it was still a bit of an eye opener. I downloaded PO's profiles for all of Brockton Bay's capes onto my flash drive for later study.

As it turned out because of the number of villains and heroes operating outside of the law Parahuman Online's forums included a very rich amount of information on how to spoof, redirect, or misdirect electronic tracing systems and other ways for capes to generally stay below the radar. There were even instructions that verified capes swore by and the occasional posts by thinkers who had found ways to counter the countermeasures to warn capes away from things that didn't work. I gobbled up the information like a starving man at a buffet downloading entire threads to read and review later.

* * *

Shortly thereafter I had to log out and beat a hasty exit in order to have enough time to get to class. Eating would have to wait until afterward. Sam's Self Defense as described by Sensei Nakamura was a 'hole in the wall studio that taught Krav Maga.' In this case, a hole in the wall meant that it was taught out of the instructor's basement which had been converted into a quasi-martial arts studio. I refrain from using the term dojo because the martial art being taught had none of the trappings of eastern martial arts, Sam's didn't even require uniforms beyond 'something you can sweat in.' And if by the end of a class you hadn't drenched your clothes in sweat it probably meant you weren't keeping up with your peers.

Sam's was run by the Anderson family; Mark was the Krav Maga master who taught the martial art while his youngest daughter, Julie, handled all of the administrative side of it. I suppose it was a good thing she was majoring in business over at AU. The 'Sam' in the joint's name was short for Samantha, his wife, and while not a master herself by her standards she acted as a second instructor most days.

About half way through the hour we took a real solid breather most of the eight student all but collapsing from exhaustion. I drank to try to replenish all the fluids I was sweating out. While the lesson today focused on weapon defense, after the initial show and tell from Mark and Sam had been finished duct-taped plastic knives, foam bats, and similar batons had been tossed to everyone and it basically became a free for all as Julie would call out a name at random for everyone to basically attack at random intervals until another name was called. Most of the time that meant we had enough time to neutralize a weapon and throw one or two hits in before we had to move to intercept the next attacker, every now and then Sam would make things more interesting by jumping the gun and throwing herself into the mix at the same time as someone else. The constant back and forth was extremely tiring especially given how Krav Maga dictated an 'all in' response.

"You're doing real good," Samantha told me.  
"My side disagrees," I retorted.  
"Taylor, Julie designated you almost twice as much as everyone else because you were consistently whipping our asses. You got hit what five or six times?"  
"Six I think." I replied not admitting that I had taken two of those hits because I had realized I was doing too well. I was finding it increasingly hard not to use my powers to keep track of everyone here. Thanks to the Andersons' dog, Rex, there was a nice flea infestation in the house and studio. In fact on average I only had to tag half of the class because of how out of control said infestation was.  
"And every other student, all of which are older than you, got hit at least twice that. Taylor you're a natural street fighter you even have that six sense about you."

I shrugged noncommittally. I hoped I looked more like the scrawny kid full of heart than the unbelievably good fighter. The former wouldn't draw much attention but the latter could cause people to wonder if I was a cape. If I caught wind of such thoughts I'd have to drop the class. I may need to anyway considering how time consuming my cape life was becoming. As odd as it was I don't think I dealt with living a double life for any appreciable amount of time, I ran away from home about a month after debuting as Skitter allowing me to focus almost exclusively on being Skitter even before I was outed.

"That's not to say there's no room for improvement. You don't use your elbows or knees enough. You could stand to be a bit more aggressive in your takedowns; while it's good that you react to new attackers quickly you often end up with two opponents because you're slow to neutralize the first."

I nodded. This was pretty common complaints. I often got called out on using too many palm strikes, a habit developed from eagle claw fighting, or not being as brutally aggressive as Krav Maga demanded. On the other hand I tended to be harder for others to counter because I was drawing from a larger library of techniques. When I practiced at Peerless I tended to merge Krav Maga's direct aggression with Eagle Claw techniques; here I tried to avoid using Eagle Claw to focus on the fighting style I was learning here.

"Alright break's over, let's get back to it," Mark ordered.

The rest of the hour saw us divide up into two groups of four with Sam or Mark overseeing us. In each group three would handle strike pads that the last would unload with everything they had. After a few seconds the one being attacked would step back and another would step forward, likely hitting the attacking student with the pad to draw their attention and the process would continue. When about a minute had passed we'd swap out who was in the circle and repeat.

While the chief principal of Krav Maga was aggressive action the training regime at Sam's focused on the primary thing that most people lacked: the stamina and will to keep fighting until you were the last man, or woman, standing. Something that I knew would be beneficial to me in the long run. Still it was little consolation when I left the Anderson's. My body was sore from raw exertion and begging for fuel. I made good on my earlier promise to get something to eat, stopping by the local McDonalds before making my way home with a stomach full of fast food and a drink in hand.

* * *

**-/ Interlude 5: The Archer  
**He listened intently to the conversation being broadcasted into his ear piece. It seemed like Lung was not happy about his lieutenant leaving a battle without doing so much as throwing a punch. Jeremy Rivers wondered how the girl was able to suffer being around the gang leader when he was busying himself with a whore. He considered losing an arrow and ending the poor woman's life but that would only serve to draw attention to his presence.

Between his tips to the police and the activities of that new bug cape the pressure upon the gangs had ratcheted up significantly. He hoped the new cape was going to keep pushing on the gangs but Jeremy knew the sort of rapid strikes that she had performed during the weekend was likely the result of weeks, if not months of intelligence gathering. As such he wasn't actually expecting the swarm user to strike so soon after the initial barrage. That meant in the meantime keeping the pressure on the gangs was his job.

How had the emergence of the Protectorate and Wards change society? Jeremy ponded the question; it was the last one on his homework assignment for Mr. Michelson's class. The page only had enough room for a few hundred words in his small precise style. But he wanted to write more than that. The question deserved more than that. It might seem odd but he was actually passing history despite the fact that he was sleeping through the class. Part of that was Michelson rewarded points based on thoroughness. Most of his assignments ended up being pages long. It made up for his average test grades.

The wind picked up and he pulled his hood down further wishing he had considered to add a woolen cloak to his costume for winter months. The wind chill was atrocious and leather, Kevlar, and spandex only did so much to keep one warm. Then again Brockton Bay was actually known for its rather warm weather compared to the region. He wanted to scoff at that.

Almost a four blocks away Lung had finished his business with the whore. Oblivious to any disgust on his lieutenant's part he ordered Jīn to get the strung out girl out of his sight. Jeremy thought that it was probably a blessing that the whore, a girl his age, was likely too high to even tell where she was much less what was happening to her. Small mercies, if a god existed that's how he made his presence felt. Those little small mercies that helped everyone go about their day when the world around them rotted.

Sure the heroes, the real heroes, not just the guys who wore the title were probably what people would point to, but they were outnumbered and far too often out gunned. Legend and the real shining knights in tights and capes could only do so much. Which was where people like Quiver came into play. He and his kind, the antiheroes picked up the slack or did the jobs no one wanted to admit needed doing.

Quiver packed away his notes, sketches, and the thumb drive that housed the recordings from his remote listening device placing the lot into a small case. He was methodical in his evidence gathering and making sure nothing could be traced back to him. While he handwrote his notes he emulated a different type font than he did in his civilian life and a voice distorter prevent any recording of his voice from being used to identify him.

As he worked he wondered briefly how Shadow Stalker was doing as a Ward. She had never taken that step that made an antihero irredeemable, but she was far too close to the ideal to function as a member of the Wards. And if he guessed right she probably would rather be hunting criminals alone then in any sort of group. Even the times they crossed paths she seemed reluctant to work together. Still they had been partners in more than one way. Cape romances Jeremy concluded were odd. Where else would two people be found having sex, barely disrobed enough to perform the action, masked, and atop the roof of a gang controlled warehouse?

Probably in porn …or fetish clubs. He still had trouble believing there was porn of HIM. His Parahumans Online profile only had a picture because Shadow Stalker had snapped one of him with her phone and added it, they didn't even have his powers right. Besides Quiver was about as apathetic of a person as you could get while not being a machine. The things you learn when you set out to make a costume that includes parts made of black leather and spandex.

Where had this line of thought come from? Oh right, cloaks. He wished he had one and she did have one. A warm one, especially when she was wearing it or when they… Curse the primal elements of his being.

He closed his eyes and emptied his mind before turning to the west. When he opened them his mind was a clear a receptacle for his power. Everything in his sight was captured in perfect detail better than a picture no matter how many words it may be worth. The cape saw the paths that vehicles would take as they continued moving; those of people were generally shorter for due to their relative agility. A flying cape, Glory Girl, had the easiest path to predict since she was moving so fast. She was about a mile away but he was sure he could hit her with an arrow if he wanted. Predictable targets were easy.

There, another easy target. He focused on the target, an old model hatchback, a ford. The skinhead driving was someone he'd previously seen peddling drugs. The two others in the vehicle were also known to him. One he'd seen beating on a black man with some of his punk friends, the other had held up a liquor store. Still he waited watching as the vehicle stopped next to a corner dealer.

The mechanical quiver clinked and ticked in the barely audible range as Quiver dialed in the next few arrows he wanted. Incendiary first, time delayed trigger, six seconds post impact. That should be enough time for the gang members to recognize what was coming. Another to make sure the stash of drugs he could see in the rear most seat would be destroyed. A thermite arrow to the engine block would make sure the vehicle was never used again. Four standard arrows for the criminals themselves. He'd let them live, not worth increasing Quiver's rap sheet over, but the injuries were not going to something that could be taken care of by the average gang doctor. These idiots didn't look important enough to warrant higher health care from their bosses. Scratch that; the fourth arrow would be a transmitter so the police would come running.

In one smooth practiced motion he drew the first arrow from the quiver and fired. The other specialty arrows were loosed right behind the first. He closed his eyes and let the images fade from the fore front of his mind. The first arrow struck a package of drugs, ripping it out of the hands of the corner dealer and pinning it to the street post, the second shattered the rear window as the first erupted into flames. Since he had set the second and third on an impact trigger their fiery payloads detonated almost the same time the first was released. The thermite ate its way through the vehicle's engine block as the occupants scrambled out of the burning vehicle.

Quiver opened his eyes again, taking in the scene in a heartbeat. The first arrow and second flew in the span of another beat of his calm heart. A pause as he let the first two strike a shoulder and a knee. The uninjured ran. Third was fired and the holdup artist's ankle became bolted to the ground. The last man stumbled and tripped looking for the archer, he wasn't looking far enough. The last arrow was released It was the most shallow of the hits ripping into the panicking man's hip and striking, possibly penetrating the 'wings' of pelvis. The impact trigger no doubt would have been set off informing the police of the location of one of their missing GPS transmitters.

The police according to his cop sister was getting faster at figuring his firing position in part tanks to his precision. So he needed to leave before she and her team got on the scene. A gift for geometry ran in the family power wise. Every cape in the Rivers' family had possessed some sort of thinker rating that revolved around it. He and his sister as fourth generation capes were no exception. She preferred the rules and regulation of police work and generally hid her admittedly weak power. She had no idea he had also triggered though she knew of the brush with death that had been the event. It was hard to mask a hospital stay for ten different broken bones from your only family. Or the way his personality had been altered by his power.

Quiver dropped a story onto the next building's roof and ran. The bow in his hands collapsed down to half its length and he let the magnets on the quiver grasp it as he swung it behind his hip. The same motion saw him mantel over a bit of ventilation. Nearing the edge of the roof he pulled a carabiner free from his costume and hooked it on the zip line he had prepared beforehand.

As he rode the cable down and across the street his mind recalled seeing Shadow Stalker the previous night with Vista. He had been a dozen blocks away but for all it mattered he might as well have been lying next to her on his belly. He felt, just like he did now the stir of a primal emotion that wanted her again. It wasn't possible she was a Ward now, one that was constantly partnered with another or watched by someone.

The cloaked vigilante had been surprised; perhaps a little scared of, how easy it was for him to kill. She hadn't yet taken a life and in truth she never, to his knowledge, had. She used lethal ammunition like he did and had left more than one bottom feeder bleeding out in an alleyway but she never moved with an intent to kill. That didn't bother him, nor did her abrasive attitude, she could be as angry with him as she wanted and it wouldn't bother him. It had been both a blessing and a curse in their relationship on one hand had he been as he was before triggering he'd never have been able to deal with her long enough for any sort of partnership to form between them, on the other if he had shown more emotion she might have responded better to him. He wasn't sure.

Sophia, he knew her identity long before she likely thought to tell him, had been caught by the PRT the day before he intended to try to move forward in their relationship. He was going to give her his cellphone number so they could meet by more than just chance or e-mail arranged meetings. That may sound like a small thing considering they had already slept together but as he believed then and now, cape relationships aren't typical. He had been there when they came for her, perched on a water tower three blocks away. He had been ready to assist her in her escape, kill for her even; but she went without a fight. He respected her decision and didn't intervene. He wondered what would have happened if he had. Would she have thanked him or scorned him?

Again, he wasn't sure. He had problems relating to people. Since he trigged she had been the only person he connected with on any level. He wanted her.

He realized as he got home he knew how to answer the last question on his homework assignment. The Protectorate and the Ward Program had changed things by giving the people hope. In a time when villainy was victorious, the Triumvirate had united heroes and pushed back the dark. The Protectorate was the soldiers would fight threats like super villains and Endbringers without a second thought. Their selflessness and number indicated an end to the dark days that had preceded their arrival. The establishment of Wards extended that beacon of light into the future. That's what the sponsored heroes were; beacons of hope too numerous to be swept aside by the tide of antagonistic night. Sophia despite her name had become a light that shines in the darkest places of the city. And he as a shadow could not approach her despite his wants.

He stripped out of the raiment of Quiver, all black save for the red chevron upon the chest, and packed away his gear in the case he'd received from Foundry 7. The tinker, or rather the union of tinkers known as Foundry, were impartial in their view of villains and vigilantes and were responsible for a lot of the tinker tech that had trickled it was down to mass-marketable technology. They were also the people to go to when you needed gear for your gimmick to function. All you had to do was explain what you wanted, pay for materials and be prepared to fight Endbringers. Foundry was concerned with the big picture; they couldn't practice their craft if the Endbringers, well, ended humanity.

So over the last year he had fought three Endbringers. He wasn't very useful on the front lines with his bow and arrow but his thinker power had given him a place among the artillery batteries, where he shouted target corrections and predicted the path of the faster beasts. He had on one occasion been called in to aim a tinker weapon. It was the first time he saw a major Endbringer substantially injured to the point that it had to retreat.

When he had slid the trunk back into the closet and buried it under the perpetual pile of his dirty laundry he sat down at the desk in his room to finish his homework.

* * *

**-/ Author Notes:**  
Before anyone says anything, we didn't really get much information about Aegis/Carlos in Worm itself. As such I'm fleshing him out a good bit because as the leader of the Wards he is a rather major character for this fic. I had him mention he triggered because he was bullied in the previous chapter, just to be clear that happened before he was transferred to Rosemary's foster home. He went about a year before someone (Carlie) noticed that he was a parahuman…It's hard not to notice when someone spontaneous starts floating. As for Carlos feeling guilty as if he had actually raped Carlie. He considers it such because he knows what he wanted to do, not because of how far he got before he spontaneous started floating off of her. As such he sees it as much worse than what actually happened while Carlie and Rosemary look at what did happen and what he's done in reaction to the event and are willing to forgive and forget.

Everything in Taylor's perspective in this chapter was written while I was working on Chapter 4. Well, the battle with Surge, and the majority of the scene at Sam's. The majority of her section in this chapter was meant to highlight her Krav Maga training and how it mixes into Skitter's fighting style since I felt I had been highlighting Peerless too much. Also…Atlas 2.0 comments?

I had at one point considered Quiver/Jeremy Rivers as a potential protagonist for a fic before I started this one. Then I realized his generally emotionless demeanor would have made it hard to write him as a relatable character. In case you're wondering I'd peg Quiver as a Master 4/Thinker 2. His master power didn't come into play here but it directly relates to his name. Brownie points for correct guesses.

So something to weigh in on, how should I offset message bodies like Panacea's message in this chapter? In Word I just indent the whole paragraph. ideas?


	6. Chapter 6: Frustrations

**-/ Chapter 6: Frustrations /-**

I had a restful night's sleep for the second night in a row. Well at least I did until I woke up a two in the morning. It was the cold-sweating eyes-wide-open awakening I was actually getting used to, nor the result of stomach churning nightmares that saw me racing to the bathroom to lose my dinner. No, I had simply slept almost nine hours after having turned in early the night before. Given the hour I actually tried to go back to sleep; I couldn't. Reluctantly I went through the morning rituals, save breakfast as quietly as possible so as not to disturb my dad's rest. All too soon I found myself with literal hours left till I needed to head to school and nothing really to do. I rolled over my options.

The local bug population had diminished greatly as I moved most of the swarm I had stored at the Grovers' home to my lair; That's not to say there weren't any that I could make use of I had several nests of various bugs spread across the four blocks from my home though I had been careful in setting them up. I knew that most cape powers with an effect zone had said zones that could be described as a sphere. If someone went looking for Skitter and found all or even most of the nests currently in my range my house wouldn't been in the center of any circle they made, rather I had arranged them to suggest a two block radius burst around three other homes all of which had teenaged girls living there. One of these houses was Emma's; I thought it was funny. The most damming things in my home were my costume and the relatively small colony of widow weavers still in said room.

Regardless, there weren't really enough bugs around for me to loose myself in micromanaging or even just swimming in their senses. So I couldn't distract myself with the swarm until I feel back asleep. Not that I was likely to; I was wide awake now. I still had a light migraine so no bio-manipulation; nor was I, for that matter, in the mood for the mind wracking task of planning out future manipulations. Similarly I didn't feel like trying to decipher the technobabble of the lair's documentation or shift through the Parahumans Online cape profile archives I had downloaded. I had already completed all my school work; both homework and even the one cross-semester assignments we had been given already were all done. I couldn't even justify trying to veg out in front the TV downstairs or occupy myself with the few years old games I had for the game cube hooked up to said television, not with the possibility of waking Dad.

* * *

I suited up and snuck out the house. It seemed like a good idea; just make a circuit or something through the docks. A patrol, I'd be doing them soon enough when I joined the Wards. I'd get close enough to some of the sites I knew about to collect some more intelligence then head home, swap outfits, and head to school. I didn't even want to think about school. That was the plan at least. By three thirty I had buried an ABB dealer and his entourage under a tide of bugs, bound them in spider silk and called the police using one of their phones. But generally I hadn't done much more than peak inside drug dens, whore houses, and so forth to find business as usual.

Given the ample amount of time I had left before I needed to be back home I entered the small slice of territory that was claimed by the Merchants. More specifically I moved towards one of two drug houses I had discovered in January. Once I was in range I gave the place a once over. A ragged tenement greeted my bugs. The machine room that covered the basement level of the building had been converted to handle the refinement and packaging of some sort of drug that was lethal to my bugs. I wasn't sure which drug that was, especially given the fact I was looking at a Merchant drug lab and they sold a large variety in the city. The area was manned by a dozen people dressed only in their underwear. Besides them in building there were nineteen people that fit the profile of Merchant gangbangers and another twenty or so that were either whores, users, or more often both.

When I had decided to make a move on this place I had started gathering my swarm more overtly and now had several million individuals under my banner. Banner…I needed some kind of mark, logo, insignia; something to think about later. Any rate, I mentally dug out every scrap of intelligence I had on this place as I planned my attack. I'll have to be moving fast throughout the attack to make sure I had ample time to vanish and get back home. I could let my swarm handle things completely by themselves. I hadn't actually done that except for a few petty crime interventions so it would still add a level of uncertainty. Was I still referencing Bakuda's 'rule through fear' methodology?

I shook my head, I was still working on making Skitter a terror and rumors would follow quicker with a personal appearance so I'd be moving in as well. That didn't mean however that I needed to be risking myself as much as I had been. I started directing the bugs on site to foul up anything I thought were weapons, whether it was by having smaller bugs cram their bodies into moving parts or spiders cocooning the same parts. As I reached the last alley between me and my target I diverted more to that task and built up clusters of bugs over the heads of random targets.

There was one half-asleep person on lookout sitting at the base of the building's stoop. I wove a little more uncertainty and unpredictability into this encounter by completely bypassing him by slipping out the alley and across the street off towards the right. I hid behind a SUV. The building had once been rather nice looking with the apartments that formed the façade all having a terrace style balcony; those balconies now served me as a means to enter the premises. I unspooled a length of spider silk cable and threaded it through a quick-release climbing assembly as I formed a swarm of heavier fliers on a rooftop across the street. I sent my bugs up to secure the other end and I tested the line before I began the slow process of climbing up to the third story. Instead of scrambling over the balcony's rail and entering through the third floor I simply clung onto the side of the balcony and positioned myself directly over the glass door of the second story apartment beneath me.

After a few more seconds of maneuvering everything into place I moved. The swarm positioned across the street moved first their droning ratcheting up as they neared. Just as the tendril, headed by the heaviest of my selection of fliers, was impacting the targeted window I jumped letting the cable go taunt and snap me towards the very same window. Just after I felt the jerk I hit the quick release, more or less preserving the built up momentum and easily providing the extra force needed to shatter glass. I managed a decent landing not that the five occupants of the room could actually tell given the swarm that flowed in with me.

As I drew myself up the swarm I had already moved into the building attacked in seven different locations a cluster of bugs half again out massing their targets dropped onto the heads of not just obvious armed gang bangers but on some of the whores and strung out addicts that were present. This was another part of the unpredictable nature of the assault; I wasn't just going after the Merchants but anyone who did business with them, sending the message that even the latter group wasn't safe from my wrath. Some of them had the sense to try and flee, I allowed it but not without a parting gift or two to make them feel like they had barely gotten away. With luck the tale of such a 'harrowing escape' would spread among their peers warning them away from further business with the Merchants.

One of the gang members in front of me drew his piece from his waist band and fired. I felt myself start to tense in anticipation of the pain…except none came. Through my bugs I could sense the path the bullet had taken and I almost laughed, not more than twelve feet away and he had missed by nearly a foot. When he pulled the trigger again the weapon didn't function, the casing of the first round was jammed in the slide thanks to an unreasonable amount of webbing a spider had deposited. Similarly another Merchant was having a difficult time pulling his own hand gun free of his pants thanks to the fact it had been bound to his low hanging pants and boxers.

The third charged me pulling a knife from…somewhere. I caught the weapon arm and in an almost casual display of skill and aggression executed a brutal disarm and neutralized the thug with a technique I had picked up at Sam's. As I was working that one over my swarm lashed out at the fourth, a whore, who had reacted to my arrival by jumping over the couch to put it between us. I could see through swarm that she was peering over the back of the couch wide eyed. I diverted the swarm to the gangbanger that needed to learn how to wear pants; the whore would make a good witness to the deed.

As said gang member cursed and screamed A tide of insects were passing through the drug lab, knocking over beakers and vials, ripping open packages of drugs, and harassing the near naked drug makers. When a group of Merchants came running down to see what was happening they feel victim to trip wires my spiders had affixed along the staircase. In a room on the third floor a couple woke up to find themselves already cocooned to the couch they had passed out on.

As I broke the knife wielder's arm the first gunman charged intent on pistol whipping my skull to bits. Unfortunately for him he had waited too long to give up on pulling the web free from his gun; I was free to deal with him. I slapped the inside of his swinging arm arresting the momentum as I stepped in and elbowed him in the jaw. Thanks to the swarm I felt how he'd move next; when he threw what would have been a decent body shot I had already stepped back and out of the way of the offhand punch. I twisted my left arm to grasp the elbow end of his right forearm and shot my own right out to grab his throat. I twisted and, as a portion of the swarm smashed into his legs from behind, continued the maneuver bringing the both of us to the ground and all but choke slamming the gangbanger.

My spiders were swarming over my victims bringing limbs together or firmly adhering them to the floor as last of the gang members in the room with me rushed for the door …and was promptly swallowed by a chitinous avalanche. I shrugged my shoulders as I had the swarm partially concealing me thin. I turned my gaze to the whore, still staring wide eyed at the cape that just decimated her acquaintances in mere seconds, and spoke a single word through the swarm, "Run."

As she bolted through another door…leading further into this particular apartment, I moved on and checked the progress of my swarm's assault. Everyone had been neutralized even the look out who had been set upon as soon as he ran inside to try and help his buddies. Spiders were binding everyone who hadn't beaten a hasty retreat while other insects continued to ravage the drug lab. Two of the few weaver wasps I had with me bore a borrowed cellphone to my person, carrying it aloft by strands of spider silk. I wasted no time in alerting the police and slipping away into the predawn.

* * *

I got home while my dad was showering, a lot later than I wanted to. Thankfully as he was otherwise occupied there was no chance of him spotting me still in Skitter's costume. I changed making a point of wearing a shirt that was brighter than the usual muted colors I wore. If I was going to say why, I don't know. Maybe It was like celebrating the coming end of my tortured existence at Winslow. Or maybe I wanted to show the trio that I had nothing to fear from them, that I didn't have to hide from them or anyone in the usual nondescript clothes I wore to blend. Maybe it was symbolic of me coming out of my shell to make friends with Sara. The point is I was going to wear a nice yellow shirt. Though admittedly it was under my grey hoodie, so I'd have to leave it either partially or completely unzipped for anyone to see it. Eh, small steps.

I got back downstairs and started cooking breakfast before Dad escaped the confines of the bathroom. As such when he came in dressed, his hair still characteristically damp from the shower he started the conversation with a skeptical, "Already ready for school?"  
"Yep," I said with a slight bit more cheer then I felt, "and got my run in already too."  
"You woke up early."  
"And went to sleep even earlier. Yesterday's class really wore me out"  
"I see," Dad said as he noticed the morning paper sitting on the table for him. I had unrolled it on the way in and had been all smiles when I saw a picture that had to be a still from a PRT officer's helmet displaying the scene the Protectorate and PRT walked in on yesterday at the Aquarium. While the focus was on the strung up form of Surge, I was visible off to the side seated on the over turned bucket. I hadn't noticed how …angular I had my joints bent, it made Skitter look even more inhuman. The only thing I wasn't fond of was the way the Bay Chronicler insisted on calling me 'Skitter' with quotations like it wasn't a confirmed name. Did I need to write it in webbing for them or something?

Dad took his seat at the table and started reading the front page, "Looks like your friend made the front page."  
"Yep."  
"Making quite the name for herself."  
"You think so?" I asked wondering if others, particularly those in the PRT and the sponsored heroes thought the same. I had mentioned I'd be more amicable about joining the Wards after I established myself solo. If they thought I had done so they might start aggressively trying to recruit me.  
"Less than a week and she makes the front page on both Monday's and Wednesday's papers. I hope she doesn't burn herself out at the rate she's going though. She did right by us."  
"Yeah. She was a big help," I admitted making a point of referring to Skitter in the past tense. Dad didn't seem to notice it however. Instead he just nodded as I served breakfast.

We ate in relative silence that was only broken by niceties about the meal. After which Dad cleaned the dishes and I prepared for school. Well. Actually I made a few more notes in my hero journal and did some light stretching and warm-up exercises. I did everything I could to not think about facing the terrible trio again. Yesterday despite my skipping class hadn't involved any activity be the girls, I wasn't sure if that was because they were aware of the paradigm shift that occurred when the Wards visited Winslow or if they were just recovering from me standing up to them and probably planning their next move. If it was the latter I expected it to be something big. By standing up to them I had escalated things; it was just a matter of what they came up with.

I jogged to school and despite the fact I was heading to the proverbial hunting grounds of the trio my steps were lightened. There was something about seeing your exploits in the paper that made you feel like you were accomplishing something even if intellectually you know that wasn't the case. I might have disrupted drug operations by closing down a handful of the sites, throwing punks behind bars, and stealing the profits but when it came down to it all of that was replaceable, disposable and the gangs had fairly deep reserves to draw from.

* * *

I spent the majority of the day in class waiting for the terrible trio to ruin my good mood. Well my pleasant mood. While surfing the Parahumans Online after completing the assignment in homeroom I found a message from Panacea asking to meet Skitter shortly after school. I was to pick the place though I'd have to put off sending a reply until I could run to the library during lunch. History was …hilarious as Michelson spent the entire period off on a tangent about a time when he personally met the Triumvirate. If I had to guess I'd say he was bending the truth a fair amount.

English I shared with Emma so I expected something to happen. I was waiting for the proverbial shoe to drop. It didn't. Nothing of note really happened except that we were assigned a pair of books to read. It was the same story by the same author, except one was from Earth Aleph. We were to write a paper on how the books differed and apply some critical thinking as to why they were different. Easy assignment, but given that I'd be transferring soon-ish to Arcadia I probably didn't even have to worry about it.

When lunch finally did roll around I slipped out of school without my tormenters none the wiser and got to the library. The meeting place I picked out was a parking garage downtown that would serve my purposes nicely. I even specified which floor. The location gave me just enough time to rush home, get my costume, and get to the meeting place. Before heading back to school I stopped by a Subway for my meal.

School proceeded uneventfully. My last two classes of the day were Math and Art, in that order. Math, like English, I had with Emma while Sophia was in my Art class. So once again I was waiting for something to happen and once again nothing did. There was no off hand comments, none of the rumor trading, or other nasty surprises the girls usually came up with. Rather Emma spent the majority of class doodling in her notebook and Sophia diligently worked on her art project. Maybe I had gotten lucky and the terrible trio did feel the paradigm shift or maybe they just gave up when I showed any hint of a backbone. Yeah right, I'm not that lucky. But the bell signaling the end of the school day came and went without incident as did my trip home. By this point I was feeling thoroughly spooked; I spent an entire day in school without so much more than a dirty look being cast my way. That hadn't happened since the few weeks leading up to the locker incident. Given how shaken I was over that event I think it was justified that I was expecting that this wasn't the end.

* * *

Twenty minutes later I was masked and was watching Amy and Victoria Dallon as they awaited my arrival. I was technically here early but it was obvious by the way Glory Girl was impatiently pacing and how engrossed in her novel Amy was that the New Wave members had been here for some time now. Their presence meant my usual theatrics might be a little harder to set up covertly. Especially since I couldn't land a bug on either directly, Victoria's force field was slippery even to my bugs' ability to cling to surfaces while I couldn't land one on Panacea without her possibly screwing around with my power like she had at the bank a lifetime ago. As a result I had to use the vision and hearing of my swarm to observe their activities.

I wish I had brought bugs with better vision or hearing for surveillance. While I now had a better understanding of how to decipher the swarm's sight and hearing it was still the weakest of my powers and hardest to utilize. Part of that was because each species in the swarm that I actively used for the task added complexity to deciphering the senses since no two kinds of creepy crawlies had the same vision, hearing, or even sense of taste. The numbers of individuals being utilized for those senses and their proximity to one another further influenced the difficulty of using those sense. There were other things as well that factored in; my brain had a hard time dealing with seeing subjects from multiple angles and the way many bugs had a rather large field of vision didn't help matters. Generally my best bet was to utilize a relatively small, tightly clustered group of creepy crawlies that had similar auditory or vision range as a human's own senses. Trying to do things with greater number or a larger variation in viewpoints tended to give me headaches, not the power migraine I experience with my bio-manipulation, but more like when you strained your eyes staring at the TV for two long. I suppose it was some manner of sensory overload or something.

I sent out a single weaver wasp to secure the cable of spider silk it carried to a pillar near the pair. It wrapped the cord around the object once and flew it into a knot. On my end I pulled on the cord forcing the relatively loosely tied knot to tighten. Once there was no give the wasp went to work coiling more silk on the cable and adding additional anchoring. The cable on my end was being similarly secured by a small section of my ever growing swarm.

I knew, or at least suspected, from previous encounters with Amy that her power didn't work except through skin on skin contact. Even the dead skin cells of the scalp could prevent her from utilizing her power. As such I didn't have to worry over much about her discerning that my theatrical tricks were just that if we touched. It also meant I had an edge over Panacea; I could work my bio-manipulation through relatively thin layers of material like my gloves.

"Ames!" Victoria called out drawing her adoptive sister's eyes. Glory girl was pointing out the swarm that was slowly forming in the parking garage. A few dozen cockroaches came out from around a car while another group of spiders moved across its roof. Other groups of various bugs appeared on the ceiling, the pillars, and pretty much anywhere else. I had the bugs move at a fairly slow pace and left a good fifteen feet around the girls free of my developing swarm.

Amy had quickly stuffed her novel away and gotten to her feet, Victoria was protectively shielding her sister with her arm. Not that either girl could really do anything meaningful against the swarm. Well Amy could probably wipe them out en mass as they touched her, but Glory Girl? Maybe she could accelerate fast enough to cause sonic booms. But that was really all I could think of.

I came in on the nearly invisible zip line shrouded in a much larger swarm of flying bugs. The mass completely concealed me from view as we came into the garage and my feet arrested my momentum. Hitting the pillar made my feet sting but I ignored it as I had several fireflies light themselves. In the dense swarm they looked like small pin points of light that slowly converged as I released the carabiner from the cable and tucked it away. I turned towards the girls as the ends of the silk cable were eaten through and collected by my swarm for later use. I started walking towards the girls, as the bugs formed a vaguely humanoid shape in the forefront of the swarm that matched my movements. The fireflies clustered into eyes, the edges of the swarm spread apart while the groupings making up the swarm form became more defined. As they did this I moved through the swarm at a slightly quicker pace. In short order I was on the other side of the swarm form which all but dissolved as I walked through it and out of the swarm carrying only a few thousand with me in a personal nebula. From their view it looked like the swarm had solidified into Skitter.

"Panacea. Glory Girl." I spoke with the swarm. The majority of my swarm disappeared just as quickly as they arrived largely hiding under or behind vehicles.  
"Arthropod Lovers Anonymous?" Amy responded sounding unsure of her presumption.  
I chuckled in response conveying the sound carefully with my swarm before stating, "Also known as Skitter."  
"I thought your message said you had the same power set as Testament and me."  
"-but I'm the cape known for controlling bugs? I can also manipulate their biology."  
"Oh," Panacea said at about the same moment that Glory Girl muttered something along the lines of 'weird.' The latter had finally dropped her defensive stance and started simply drifting about. I say drifting, because she was floating about an inch off the ground. Show off.  
"Just bugs?" Amy seemed to both deflate and be relieved about that. It didn't take a genius to figure out why. Manipulating biology, to put it simply, had the potential for a lot of abuse. Even with the limitations of my ability I could become something as scary as Nilbog, but being able to change humans? Very scary. On the other had since I couldn't affect humans with the power I couldn't use it like Amy did healing people of all manner of ills. From what I knew of her, she spent most of her time going around hospitals treating critical cases or running to Endbringer events to try to keep injured capes alive.  
"Yeah."  
"Some power," Victoria commented bitterly. I couldn't help smiling at that.  
"Want to see what I can do?" I asked the hovering cape.  
"Sure," Glory Girl said as she floated over to me arms crossed a smug expression on her face; Panacea for her part looked interested.  
I extended my arm towards Amy. She reached out with a single finger and poked the gauntlet. Her eyes widened as she spoke, "Her gauntlets are living creatures. Why?"  
"The carapace can be regrown if damaged, and I'm planning on elaborating on the design adding features from the various biologics I've sampled.

"If you're able to make this sort of thing, what do you need me for? I've never really explored that side of my powers. I only heal," Amy asserted. It annoyed me that she was comfortable not exploring the abilities of her powers. At the same time I readily understood the need for her to bind herself in rules about how and on what she used her powers.  
"I…I'm not very creative with this power."  
Victoria started laughing while Amy just gave me a dubious look, "You made a bug into a gauntlet."  
"I did, but it took me more than five tries to get the chitin just right on the claws and those other i ideas that I've got? I'm having extreme difficulty implementing them."  
"Other ideas?"  
"Like stingers in my claws, a muscle layer in the suit, a gecko like skin to help me blend, EMP producing bugs, others that are essentially flash-bangs, you name it. The problem is I can't make a biological system I've never seen through my power, and even then modifying or even implementing it in a bug is exceptionally difficult."

"Stingers in the claws?" Victoria asked eyeing the claws of my costume.  
I brought them up to illustrate, "Imagine the claws each being like a scorpion's stingers that are fed from a series of venom sacs. Each sac contains a different venom, allowing me to inflict pain, nausea, limited area paralysis, or tranquilize on command with up to five doses per claw strike. My problem there is some of those venoms aren't very common in nature if present at all and I'm not about to use humans as test subjects for experiments in modifying existing venoms. Well, that and I need to come up with some way to switch between which poison sac is feeding the claws and clearing the ducts so there is no cross contamination; all in a fairly timely manner."  
"Okay…" Glory girl said obvious a little surprised by the detail of my explanation or worried that I, a hero, would even consider using poisons. At least I tried to assuage any fears of me testing the poisons on humans, "why would you-"  
"Even consider using poisons? There's a lot of naturally occurring poisons among arthropods so I'm very aware of their possible utility. Also, unlike you I'm not exactly swinging above my weight class; fast acting poisons could easily be the equalizer when I do have to confront someone far my superior in physical combat. Or consider the usefulness of being able to induce unconsciousness in a target without utilizing force."

"Poisons I probably could do. That's as long as you're planning on using them on humans; I could design ones that have very specific effects on the human body easily enough with a fairly low risk of overdosing or addiction," Amy paused and leveled a hard look at me. I wasn't sure what line of thought she was following that brought her to that but I was suddenly aware of her scrutiny, "You're not using some of these poisons as a kind of drug are you?"  
"You mean like recreational drugs? No! I'd. Hell no! I've been primarily attacking the various drug operations in the bay, you think someone doing that would be…actually I can see where that'd be possible. But no. I've had too many encounters with the results of drug use to ever consider it. The only thing I'd be a risk of getting addicted to would be migraine medicine if it actually worked for the power induced one."  
"You get migraines? From what?"  
"Bio-manipulation. How fast and how severe of a migraine I get is dependent those same qualities of changes I make. Bigger change bigger headache."  
"Like I said, shitty powers," Glory Girl announced from her spot off to the side. Given her expression I got the idea that Victoria's antics were annoying Amy more than me.

"So. How much for your help?"  
"You were serious about hiring me as a tutor?"  
"Yeah."  
"I, this sounds bad, but I'm just glad to have a reason to not be in a hospital," the healer admitted. I have to agree it did sound bad, but I wasn't about to actually say that. I could however understand where she was coming from.  
"You won't hear any judgment in my voice. We're teenagers, we should be allowed time to ourselves. More than normal really, given what we could do if we snap our mental health has to come first," I said placing my hand on her shoulder trying to covey just how much I understood. Apparently the cloth of Panacea's robes was thin enough for me to sense though because I got a snap shot of her biology through the action.  
I tilted my head to the side inquisitively, "When was the last time you ate, Panacea?"  
What little of her face I could see through her robes looked nervous, "I…why?"  
"Victoria," I said drawing the other girl's attention, "do you have pockets in that outfit? Amy here hasn't eaten today."  
"Oh come on Ames…" Glory girl said with an all too well practiced patronizing tone, "You promised."  
"I…"  
"Go grab her something? She'll be safe with me."  
"I don't," Victoria said before throwing a meaningful glance towards Amy and looking me in the eye, "Okay sure. I won't be long, if anything happens to her."  
"There won't be anywhere for me to run. I know," and just like that Victoria shot off into the sky disappearing into a streak. Not able to resist the urge to voice the thought I asked my companion, "Does she have pockets on that costume of hers?"  
Amy started laughing.

"So. I may have just gotten a view of your biology. I know just like Testament you don't have many restrictions on your power itself," Amy looked like she was getting ready to bolt, "Would you be opposed to trying things with insect brains?"  
"What kind of things?" Panacea asked suspiciously, cautiously, I wasn't exactly sure how to label her tone of voice.  
"I was thinking of making some sort of remote controller for my swarms to keep them inline when I'm not around. Something intelligent enough to identify a human and say, 'don't go near that. Hide.' That sort of thing."  
"Just that?" she asked curiously.  
"Well to get that to work it'd need a dumbed down copy of my power. But yeah."  
"I think I could do that. But do you think you'd be able to control it yourself? I mean what are the limitations on what you can control? What is the power looking at to figure that out?"  
"I don't know. I know I can't control things with more complex brains, dogs, cats, rodents. They're all beyond me. I can't control fish either. I'd say it's looking at if it has an endoskeleton but I recently shoved one into a bug I'm working on and it's still able to be controlled by my power.  
"I haven't really played with brains beyond reprograming them or increasing their mass. But I do know if I mutate too large of a percentage of bug's body into features not present in the species I can control then I lose control of it."  
"What do you do then?"  
"Have the swarm eat it."  
"Wow, nice mental image."  
"Oh. Sorry," I apologized; I had noticed that pretty much everything bug related didn't bother me anymore. While I'd like to say I had simply gotten used to it, I wasn't naive enough to think that it wasn't likely a change caused by my power. After all too many others had had their minds altered by the manifestation of their powers and I had been exposed to that twice now.

"Maybe we can start smaller than that?"  
"How so?"  
"Instead of making a brain that can perform like that and you might not be able to control, how about we extended your control."  
"I'm listening."  
"Like," she grasped at my swarm.

Realizing she was intending to show me the idea I had the cluster nearest her stop moving about and simply hover. Amy caught a few and mutter a simple thank you before going to work on the bugs in her hands. Out of curiosity I focused my attention on them sensing the changes that were taking place as some were fused into others and those that remained changed to such a degree they winked out of my power...for a second. Panacea must have been able sense my connection to the bugs sever and repaired it.

"Relay bugs," I said in awe, or at least as close to awe as I could get the swarm to sound. The bugs were damn close to the ones she made in my last life. I had considered asking directly for relay bugs but couldn't really come up with a way to explain it or how I'd know she could do it.  
"Yep. I felt something weird when I started working on them. Was that you?"  
"Yeah. I'm always controlling the bugs within my swarm, it's innate. What you felt must have been me turning my attention on them so I could sense the changes as they were being made."  
"Wow, you can sense biology through your power?" She asked.  
"It comes in handy when I'm copying aspects from one bug to another. I have these wasps that I modified to have a number of arachnid characteristics so I could have airborne web spinners."  
"That's neat."  
"Yeah. Unfortunately I don't really have enough produced yet to use them as a mainstay of my swarm."  
"Are you breeding them yourself? I assume you can get them to be…"  
"Would it surprise you for me to say I'm letting nature take its course most of the time. Just tuning up their sex drives," I explained, "with normal bugs all I do is flip the switch that says its spring and make sure they get fed."  
"Not really that surprising," Panacea admitted, "Though that does make me worry."  
"About me releasing an epidemic of weaver wasps? They're safely ensconced in my lair...base…hideout…"  
Amy laughed as she opened her hands and let the completed relay bugs fly, "Having trouble coming up with a name for the place? How about the Hive?"  
"I've not given it that much thought, though that does sound appropriate. I've considered giving my more dangerous creations a sort of dietary necessity I could control, but for now I'm simply sticking to a compulsion to not leave the area."  
"Safeguards are always a good idea."  
"I agree." I replied as the majority of the relay bugs tucked themselves into my hair I got an odd look from Amy, "What?"  
"I just saw bugs go into your hair," she stated, "don't they bu-bother you?"  
"Nothing about bugs bothers me. Probably a side effect of my power. Or I just got used to it."  
"If you say so."

Victoria got back shortly thereafter with McDonalds for everyone, myself included. I unlatched the mouth cover of my mask and let it hang as I ate some fries. Victoria was looking at me odd prompting me to ask, "What?"  
"I never understood the appeal of full face masks."  
"Which way? A full mask is just that much more efficient at hiding your identity. Take me for example. Before I opened my mask you didn't even know my skin color, I could have been anyone you've ever seen with this general body type," I smirked before added, "that works well for my hiding my identity and it would similarly work well for anyone fantasizing about a cape."  
Amy started choking on her soft drink and Victoria just stared at me a chicken nugget held a few inches from her mouth. Sensing opportunity I continued, "Look at the Wards. Aegis and Clockblocker wear fully body suits and masks, under those they could be anybody. Everyone else in the Wards you know something about them, hair and skin color, and with all of them, my two exceptions included, you have a fair sense of their body type and height. Add in the fact you know they go to Arcadia and you're probably looking at say a hundred boys who could be Kid Win but Clockblocker and Aegis would be closer six hundred or so possibilities given the anonymity their costumes provide."  
"Well yeah but that's still a hundred people that Kid Win could be it's not like he wears a name tag or something."  
"No but it gives you a direction to look. Hell, probably the best move the PRT could make is have the Wards attend another school or be home schooled. Then everyone would be looking at the wrong hundred guys for a possible Kid Win."

"Do you go?" Amy asked, "To Arcadia I mean."  
"Nope. Homeschooled," I said reciting the lie I had told Miss Militia before elaborating on it, "It helps given how often we've moved in the past. Father seems to be putting down roots here though so I'm acquainting myself with the local cape scene far more than usual."  
"Does he know you're a cape?"  
"I'd assume he does but we sort of have an unvoiced agreement not to talk about it. I mean there are a total of three or four capes with bug themed powers according to Parahumans Online. How hard would it be to notice your daughter has a few terrariums full of bugs and everywhere you move a bug cape with her proportions appear?" I said lying easily. I had picked up on an idea that surfaced on the Parahumans Online forums that instead of being a freshly trigger cape Skitter was actually a recent arrival to Brockton Bay. Proponents of the theory used my apparent skill in both the use of my power and hand to hand combat as well as the intricacies of my costume as proof. Personally, I liked the idea; such a backstory fit well enough and would have people looking in the wrong direction for Skitter's alter ego.

"Those hundreds of options are only if your basing your guesses on just visuals. They're other threads that can connect capes to their civilian identities. For example, their voices, speech habits, mannerisms, even their scent can give them away."  
"Is that why you do the thing with talking through the swarm? To hide your voice?"  
"Yes. Among other reasons, like it creeping villains out."  
"Not just villains. You aren't even moving your lips when you speak. It's kind of freaky," Victoria pointed out in her own way.  
"Sorry," I said making it a point to actually enunciate the word with my own voice as well, "Habits. My point is…I was going to say that my point was it wouldn't really take me, or anyone knowing what to look for, very long to figure out who a particular cape is. But that's more…I went down a tangent."

The two Dallon girls laughed and I couldn't help but join in. Even with Dad and Sara I rarely talked this much. I wondered why I was now? Because I wanted them to see Skitter as a human? Was I trying to get them to know me, as such as it was introducing myself with a helping of lies, so that they would be more comfortable around me? So that Amy would help me construct these biotech systems I was having difficulty with or something more? I was I reaching out for a friend like I had with Sara. That had led to me revealing myself to Sara. I, no; the Dallons would only know me as Skitter.

I tilted my head, "Victoria, feel like stopping a liquor store robbery?"  
"Um, sure?" the heroine responded.  
"From what I'm hearing one is getting hit down the street right now. That way," I indicated by pointing, "I'll have an arrow of fireflies form over the perps' heads."  
"Alright!" Glory Girl announced as she jumped to her feet and then into the air. I could feel the rush of displaced air through my swarm. In no time at all she was a block and a half away.

Turning back to Amy who looked a little surprised at the development I said, "I get that you're a bit uncomfortable around your sister."  
"I- did you just send her on a wild goose chase to talk privately with me?"  
"No. there really is a liquor store being rob-that was being robbed," I hastily amended as Glory Girl barreled onto the scene, I wasn't really paying the event all that much mind so I hadn't moved bugs in that I could really hear with. Still I got snippets of the owner and Victoria telling the hoodlums they were screwed. Victoria was obviously in her element, "But it did serve to let me ask you."  
"Well, I'd rather not talk about that. That okay?"  
"Sure. We all keep secrets, some more damaging than others. It's a natural part of being individuals. Do you mind another question I'm sure you don't want to hear in front of her?"  
"What?"  
"Brains. Are you just scared of making a mistake or scared of what could happen if you turned that power on others maliciously."  
"Wow. Heavy question, yes on both accounts. The mind is so complex it makes everything else about the human body seem…like…" she paused as she searched for a suitable metaphor.  
"…Like comparing Tolkien to airport fantasy novels?" I suggested before motioning, "I saw you reading before I got here."  
"Oh. Yeah I suppose that works," She replied with a small smile.

"I'm sending Victoria after a purse snatcher I spotted a block over, anything else you want to talk about without her literally hovering over your shoulder or should I bring her back afterwards?" I asked the healer.  
"I… I don't know. It's nice getting chat with someone without worrying about what she thinks of things but I'm not too fond of you stringing her along."  
"I'm not stringing her along, I'm giving her something to do while we chat. She gets to do her hero thing, which I'm realizing she really enjoys given the way she's flaunting her powers. And besides it looked like she was ready to smash my head in to relive boredom," I pointed out.

Sure Victoria did seem bored and not really interested in what we were doing but more to the point I wanted her out the picture for a little while so I could talk to Amy. Seeing her had brought memories of my past life to the surface and I wanted to turn her away from the path she'd eventually stray down if things occurred the same way. Not that they were guaranteed to, but there was a lot of pain and damage that could come to pass if I didn't at least try.

"I…let her work up a sweat I suppose."  
I laughed, "I think next time I'm going to bring a few dozen relay bugs so I can really direct her to crime while I show you some of the ideas I've put to paper."  
"Next time?"  
"I left my journal in the lair."  
"Oh," she said before adding, "I was kind of pointing out that you're thinking of next time despite the fact I've not said anything about one."  
"Don't tell me you haven't enjoyed the break from the sick and injured."  
"I have. It's just…" Amy trailed off.  
"You live by the adage of 'with great power comes great responsibility?' You feel like you're skipping out on your duty."  
"Yes."  
"Then consider this. How stressed out do you feel by the end of a regular day? How numb do you become to the suffering of others? If that occurs every day from here on where do you see yourself in ten years? Twenty?"  
"I don't know. Why are you pushing this it's not like I have-"  
"You always have a choice and you can't save them all. In ten years if you continue to push yourself to the point you're forgetting to eat, to the point where you're physically relieved for an excuse to get away, you'll find an excuse to stay away permanently. You'll screw up somewhere on something important, you'll outright quit, or you break."  
"Break?" Amy echoed.  
"You break under the pressures you're putting yourself under, and you become something monstrous. You become a villain in name and deed. There's a reason why militaries cycle soldiers between active duty and bouts of leave it's to help them maintain their sanity. They know that if they put them in the field for too long they'll crack under the pressure so they get more out of every soldier by cycling them. Do the same here for yourself."  
"I…you make a good argument. I'll consider it alright."  
"That's all I can really ask. So this isn't one sided or anything, if you ever need a spotter for your work I can and will fill that role for you. Just, you know, if you need to work on a noggin."  
"…Thanks," Amy said, "I hope I never feel like I have to, but thanks."

Less than a minute later Victoria set down next to Amy. She looked pleased with herself. I felt a wave of admiration for the heroine wash over me and I revolted, "Glory girl. You're dosing us with your aura. I'm sure you don't want me voicing the thoughts cropping up in my head."  
"Oh," the cape said before realization hit her "OH. No definitely don't want to hear that."  
"No problem...just squash the aura and I'll squash the line of thought."  
Her aura faded away the thoughts, which had more to do with jealousy of how much better endowed she was than myself and not the sexual connotations I had led her to believe, faded along with it. I smiled behind my mask before something popped into my mind, "Amy?"  
"Yes?"  
"Does Victoria's aura affect you too."  
"A little. I get this giddy feeling. Why?"  
"Just thinking."  
"I didn't know that. I thought you were immune you know given of much expos…oh man," Glory Girl looked a lot more like a normal person as she rolled through the possibilities of what she may have inadvertently done to her adoptive sister.

I checked my cell phone; it was getting close to four thirty, "So. Meet again sometime?"  
"How about the weekend."  
"I've got a date with Gallant on Friday can it be Saturday afternoon, Ames?" Glory Girl asked.  
I chuckled; recalling the message that lead to this meeting and drawing their eyes. I tried to wave them off but the motion only served to make them more curious. Seeing no other alternative, I asked, "Is this another double date? Dragging Amy along? Maybe this time she'll get her date's contact information instead of mine."  
"Hey!" Amy called out, obvious embarrassed by the flush of her freckled face. Victoria on the other hand had broken down into a tearful laugh along with me. It didn't take long for Amy to join us.

When we recomposed ourselves Amy gave me her personal phone number, while we hammered out when to meet on the weekend. I made my exit with less theatrics simply pulling a swarm close to me and rappelling off the side of the parking garage before disappearing down a manhole. One stop by the spot stashed my bag later I was back to being Taylor and headed home trying to come up with what I'd tell Dad I'd done after school. Probably blame it on Sara. She didn't have school on the day's I had classes at Peerless.

As it turned out Dad wasn't even home when I got back. That worked out fair enough for me; I could transfer my costume into my gym bag without distraction or any sense of caution. I had skipped the last two classes at Peerless; Friday it was to meet with Piggot and raid the ABB site, Monday …well I didn't have a good excuse there I was just so messed up from the emotional rollercoaster of that day that I didn't go. Outside of a visit during the weekend I hadn't been there since I completed my costume. I decided to wear my full Skitter costume with the damaged gi over it and an actual sash of spider silk for a belt instead of the shawl I had originally used instead. Well the gi and sash were completely optional in this case; after all I did want to show the completed costume off to Jamie.

* * *

I got to class with time to spare. Sara, correction Felix now since she was wearing that crummy mask I was going to replace as soon as we hammered out a design, was sitting alone on one of the benches on the side of the room. She had mentioned getting some outside input on it. We couldn't talk about it until I was in Skitter's garb or out of sight, but I did want to know more about it. I sat down next to her, "Hey Felix"  
"Hey yourself. You didn't show up for class Monday," she pointed out.  
"I went to bed shortly after getting home. The Wards came by Winslow."  
"Okay?"  
"A few of them were there to find out about the bullying. They talked to me and stuff."  
"Alright and you sound like this is a bad thing why? Are they not going to do anything?" Felix sounded like she was about to step into momma bear mode or something. It was a tone of voice she only ever remembered hearing from her parents or Emma's back when they had been friends.  
"They are. I'm going to get transferred to Arcadia soon-ish, and the girls will get their just rewards. But…"  
"But?"  
"One of the Wards was Aegis. He knows I'm just a bullied kid acting tough now."  
"I don't think anything about your toughness is an act Taylor. I've met people who acted tough or thought they were tough but had no real ability to back it up. You don't act tough. You are tough."  
"Thanks," I muttered, "Might as well get ready for class right?"  
"Yep."

The normals' class went fairly straight forward. Nakamura demonstrated a few moves, often using either Aegis or Felix as a partner. To illustrate a how effective a particular counter combination was he went full-contact with Aegis which resulted the in Ward ending up in a heap on the ground groaning. There were more than a few chuckles at the way Nakamura had so casually performed the maneuver. When it came our turn to practice the maneuver the casualness Sensei demonstrated was an obvious result of his years of experience as most of us ended up being tossed to the ground with some snide comment from our human practice dummy.

When Aegis tried to do the same to Jamie, the girl arrested her momentum using her ability to fly and put him into an airborne armbar. What made things all that much more hilarious was that he comically flailed her around for a few moments. He eventually got her to release him by ticking the back of her knee. I decided I didn't want to know how he knew she was ticklish there. More than a few students laughed at the obvious use of the two capes' powers.

When it came to my turn I couldn't help but get infuriated. Not at the difficulty of the move but the way Aegis managed to push me or slip away with the absolute minimum required force. He'd for example duck under or otherwise avoid a roundhouse kick or an over extended punch and while I was off balance and exposed gently push me away with just enough force to make me tumble and stagger. And that's only if he decided to touch me, most of the time he'd just avoid the attack or break free and not follow up instead steeping back to maintain distance.

I had gotten used to him letting himself use a little more strength than he did against others when dealing with me even if my civilian guise. I always assumed that he recognized that I could take it or something. Compared to most of the other students I did deal with pain and minor injuries far better. I never cried at least. Using the previous examples, instead of gently pushing me away I was use to Taylor being pushed to the mat or even thrown a few feet when I screwed up and left myself open. I hated him for deciding he needed to handle me with kiddy gloves.

When I finally did pull off the combination, after feinting twice and breaking a grapple attempt, he congratulated me like it was a big accomplishment. I couldn't help but fume at the pretensions jerk. By the end of the first class I was seething. Aegis was treating me like some frail little flower instead of his normal view of me. This was exactly the type of thing that I had feared would happen when he showed up with Piggot during our meeting on Friday. Peerless was supposed to be one of the few places I could go where I'd be treated like something other than a loser.

* * *

When I walked into the cape room a little while later Aegis was laughing at some comment Jamie had made. The three masked capes had just randomly congregated into a little clique listening to Jamie's words. She had that natural charisma about her. I imagine that combined with her childlike attitude it must have made her real popular. When Jamie spotted me she gave me an excited grin and practically ran over to me, "Oh my god, you costume done. It's so hardcore!"

Jamie seemed oblivious to how irate I felt as she circled around me making a number of comments about how badass my entire costume turned out. As I had decided to go without the gi, there wasn't anything covering my costume so she was able to see, and often point out, every little detail. Call it symbolic or something, but when I wore a gi I felt like I should be holding back focusing more on technique than the fight itself. I don't mean pulling my punches; I mean holding back the aggression that Krav Maga had been working to instil in me.

"That happened here?" Jamie asked as she fingered a pockmark left over from when I was shot on Sunday.  
"I got shot Sunday when I raided the E88."  
"You okay?" Felix asked eyeing the damage to the shoulder cover worriedly.  
"Yeah it's fine, the shot didn't even penetrate and I only got caught by a small portion of the blast."  
"How far were you?" Aegis asked.  
"Twenty feet maximum," I admitted, "I tried to bob out life of fire."  
"And it was what, a twelve gauge shotgun?"  
"A shogun. It was one of those standard pump action designs, but I don't know the bore size."  
"I was guessing a twelve based on the size of the mark."  
"Oh."  
"Mind if I tell the Director about your costume?"  
"Not at all"  
"You don't have a utility belt," Jamie commented as she tucked a finger between the silk layers of where my gauntlets and sleeves connected.  
"Not right now, but I've got plans for one to loop under the platting on my hips and I've already got two utility straps on each of my thighs," I explained plucking the almost camouflaged thigh straps. It was hard to feel irritated with Jamie's infectious attitude being thrown my way. Well at least it was until Nakamura put us into pairs to spar and I ended up across from Aegis.

Once we started I didn't hold back. Physically that is; I only had a small swarm of bugs around me a few hundred for my swarm voice so I couldn't really use them to any effect. Not that I wanted to at any rate; I wanted to hit something. Normally I'd work to mix together elements of Krav Maga, Eagle Claw fighting, and the more generic style being taught to normals during these classes to try to establish a style for Skitter. I wasn't doing that consciously here; here I was just dismantling my opponent utilizing the ruthlessness and all in approach of Krav Maga with whatever move came to mind. I floored Aegis with a knee to the face at the end of a combination. As he got up he innocently asked, "Did I do something wrong or something?"

"I've had a shitty day. I'm taking it out on you because you can take it," I replied, the swarm's voice staying devoid of any emotion as I didn't bother to put any inflection into it. Oddly enough Aegis just kind of accepted that as a good enough answer. A very small part of me felt bad about what I wanted to do, Aegis was a nice guy.

"Well then come on, let's see what you can do when you stop playing around," he said as we closed again. I should have found this as a release for my frustration but my mind kept asking questions. Why was he so willing to take a beating? Did he enjoy it? Would he be considered a masochist if he did? Or maybe he just preferred to take the abuse in place of someone who couldn't? Maybe his name implied he was a shield in more ways than one would assume. A mental image of him doing this same thing for Shadow Stalker promptly popped into my head. The obvious follow up comparison of her and myself did not help my mood.

I actually got angrier the more we tussled, I'm not even sure why. It wasn't like Aegis was just standing there he did counter, block, and occasionally try to evade, but he never really had the opportunity or maybe just not the inclination to go on the offensive. He did trip me up every time I got sloppy, but that was really it. I didn't really give him breathing room and when I did I was baiting him to set him up for a counter that ended with him eating the mat. Part of my brain recognized that I was going to end up getting under Aegis' skin if I kept this up. Another part didn't care while another was a little too excited at the prospect. That last part should have scared me.

So it shouldn't have come as a surprise when he landed a solid blow to my jaw and sent me to the mat. I felt something give. I blinked in disbelief as I pulled myself into a seated position. I felt the side of my mask using members of my swarm as Aegis spoke, "Sorry. I…that one got away from me. Are you alright?"

"It's okay. You just cracked the jaw guard. No big deal. I think I've had enough for now though." I said the shock of the blow was far more damaging than the actual attack had been. Another wave of annoyance filtered over as I considered the fact I'd have to repair the damage later. That was on top of the damage to my shoulder cover I had from Sunday's raid. What can I say? Growing the replacement carapaces, harvesting them, and treating the resulting chitin was an annoyingly long and unnecessarily complex process.

"You sure; I mean…" Aegis's posture told me how repentant he was over the whole thing.

I nodded, "Yeah I pushed too hard. I need to keep a better lid on things. It's my fault."

"I told you it was okay," the Ward responded as he checked a spot on his suit that had been gouged by my claws. I knew the suit was self-repairing nanotech or something I'm not entirely sure but it was a neat trick. From what I understood the entire suit was made as a test bed for some ideas from the tinkers of the bay. Still I hadn't even tried to not use my claws, there were dozens of gouges from them across the suit if he had been a normal person I'd likely be wanted for murder, "Though admittedly I feel sorry for anyone who pisses you off, Skitter."

I laughed and glanced over to where Nakamura was correcting the other two girls in the class. I caught Felix's eye and she gave me a warm, friendly smile. It seemed that Sensei hadn't even noticed everything; or maybe he was ignoring it having deduced why I was so wound up. I let out a long breath.

"So, what made your day so shitty you wanted to unload on me like that anyway?" Aegis asked as he sat down next to me. I couldn't help it. I stared at him glad my goggles were damn near opaque from the outside. He shifted uncomfortably under my gaze and muttered, "or you can…not tell me. That's fine too."  
"I don't have very many friends," I said. He paused and looked me in the eye, or at least I was pretty sure he was looking me in the eyes given his mask obscured the view of his own eyes as well it made the whole 'making eye contact' bit difficult. I took a breath, "One of my friends found out something about me and I was worried he'd treat me differently because of it. Since the secret kind of changes the dynamic of our relationship, right? Well, today I went and hung out with him for a bit like we usually do. And maybe I'm just jumping at shadows, but it feels like he's treating me differently just like I feared. And the worst part is I can't call him out on it because…well It's my fault."  
"Must be a hell of a secret."  
"You have no idea."  
"Is it your secret identity?"  
"No. something …worse."  
"Sexual orientation?" He asked prompting a snort from me. He chuckled and stated dryly, "I've got nothing."

* * *

Class ended not that long after and I still wanted to put the hurt on something. So I did what any mature, sensible super hero would do…I went looking for trouble in the docks. Not my smartest moment, but I wasn't exactly feeling as well balanced as I usually did. Aegis had gotten so firmly under my skin it was rather embarrassing. Worst part? He probably didn't even realize it unless he knew the connection between my personas and correctly deduced that I had been referring to him as my 'friend' I'm not even sure if I considered him one. He was nice, yes, but was he a friend? Still the idea of him knowing was a little disquieting.

I was somewhere in E88 territory hoisting a drug dealer and his lookouts up by way of clever application of a streetlight and some spider silk when my bugs started relaying something interesting. A few moments of having my bugs feel and look around confirmed my initial suspicion. Rachel, Bitch, whatever was moving with a purpose through E88 territory with two of her dogs already beefed up.

Nostalgia crept in and I found myself heading to intercept her. A dozen questions sprang to mind about what she was doing in the empire's territory. As far as I knew she was an Undersider. She had been sighted in the presence of both Grue and Regent before, and I recalled Brutus being the one to carry Grue away after he'd been shot by Shadow Stalker. I pulled the bolt out of him. I pushed the thought aside with some effort. The Undersiders from what I could dig up had formed about half a year ago and like in my previous life had a flawless track record but generally went under the radar. It didn't take any time at all to catch up with her.

"Hellhound. No, you rather 'Bitch' correct?" I asked as I stepped out an alley nearby. She sat a stride Brutus he looked the same as he had last time I saw him, maybe a little smaller. The other dog was Judas, I think; and seemed more interested in me than Rachel's chosen mount. Bitch herself was dressed largely as I remembered her; she even had the same dollar store Rottweiler mask perched atop her head. The mask wasn't actually covering her face; it was positioned more like a cap probably so it wouldn't obscure her vision. She tensed up as soon as I spoke and I knew this was going to be a rough conversation.  
"Who the fuck are you?" she demanded all aggressiveness.  
"Just another cape," I replied forcing a slightly submissive tone into my swarm voice, "What are you up to?"  
"None of your business. You with the Empire?" she demanded.  
"No. They don't like me very much."  
"Why's that?"  
"I've been attacking their drug dealers the last week. Hit one of their stash houses. Stole a lot of money," I listed off making an effort to not sound like I was bragging.  
"Yeah?" She seemed to ponder that, "You here to cause trouble with them right now?"  
"Are you?"  
"Yes."  
"What do you have in mind?"  
"That bastard Hookwolf has a dogfighting ring."  
"Want me to help shut it down?" I ventured. I could practically see the gears turning in her head.  
After a moment she nodded, "They might have a cape or two here. The weak ones."  
I nodded my understanding then motioned to Judas, "Should I mount up?"  
"Yeah."

We rode in silence; it wasn't an uncomfortable one, just the sort that occurred when neither person really had any reason to speak. I was gathering swarm and feeling the way ahead of us as we trekked onward. Occasionally I'd point out where a gangbanger was and Rachel for her part took me at my word and guided us around to avoid them. Apparently she was of the mind of not drawing unnecessary attention before we got to the dogfighting ring.

After a few minutes I felt a large number of fleas and other bugs enter my awareness all centered in one building. I reactively started feeling out the interior as I spoke up, "I our target a building three blocks from us?"  
"Yeah."  
"We've got …almost twenty dogs, and four times that in humans. Looks like they have a dogfight going on right now."  
"You sure?" Bitch asked anger rising in her voice. I noted she didn't ask how I knew; she just assumed I wasn't just spouting hot air. If I had to guess I'd say it was probably Tattletale's influence on her. She was used to having people around that knew more than they should.  
I turned a thousand eyes to the center of the ring, "Yes."

Rachel let out a yelp of an order and the two dogs took off. I was glad I had tightened my grip on the spikes I was using as handlebars when I had spoken. I had forgotten how exhilarating it was to ride one of Bitch's dogs, and how painful. In no time at all we reached the squat building, a small warehouse of little description. I leapt off Judas just before he went barreling into the front door. Bitch shouted commands ordering her dogs about as she and Brutus followed the trail of destruction.

The warehouse had been divided into sections by forming walls made of pallets of boxes of various description and contents. The primary area was the arena which, was according to my bugs, ringed by an electrified storm fence followed by a 30ft wide 'ground floor' and a half circle comprised of a few steel outdoor bleachers. The arena itself butted up against a chain linked fence that was lined up and secured to the edge of the second floor. The area contained the vast majority of the dogs while the upper floor had what looked like a balcony and office.

"Don't hurt the spectators too much," I warned as the two hellhounds, now devoid of riders barreled through the small crowd. I heard what I think was a bark of a laugh from Bitch as she cleaned an empire thug's clock with a right hook. He had emerged from one of the two rooms made along the small hall we were passing through to enter the arena area. I called my swarm in though the hall with us or shattering ancient windows as they moved in a veritable frenzy to get to the targets I designated.

As we entered the arena proper Bitch turned to Brutus and gave a few commands micromanaging the dog; sending him after the gun wielding members of the crowd. A group of six gunmen, who were turning in our direction after realizing their weapons had little effect on Bitch's dogs, were swallowed in a tide of ants and cockroaches. I dismantled anyone who came close as I moved through the crowd, a punk with a lead pipe, a knife fighter, an unarmed gangbanger; I even tripped a few spectators that ventured too near.

I saw a body fly through the from Judas' direction, before he barreled towards another cluster of people. I noted that none of them were actually armed, in gang colors, and hell there were kids my age in the group. I gave a whistle and redirected the dog towards the guy who hand been performing the role of announcer a few seconds before, considering his attire he was likely in charge of this facility when Hookwolf wasn't present. The skinhead yelped as the multi-ton beast set upon him.

The fight, I can't even really call it that it was more akin to a slaughter given the lack of credible resistance, didn't last very long at all. If there had been any parahumans in the mix they apparently didn't have combat oriented powers for we met with rapidly dwindling resistance. The spectators, the ones that could anyway, ran but not without a few stings and bites to remember the night by. I reflexively started binding the obvious gang members with my swarm before something hit me hard in the back of the head.

"Don't you ever do that again!" Bitch yelled at me as I caught myself and spun around.  
Riding the adrenaline as I was, I was ready to strike back; I restrained myself. Even with the knock on the head it didn't take a genius to figure out what she was referring to, "He was about to hit a kid and a bunch of civilians, beside I sent him after the guy in charge."  
"Doesn't matter. Never ever try to control my dogs."  
"Look I'm sorry for giving our dog an order; it won't happen again. But you need to keep a better eye on them."  
She blinked possibly surprised I relented so quickly, "Yeah…Good. Now, this guy, where is he?"  
"Over there. Going to make an example of him?"  
"A what?"  
"An example, hurt him a lot and make sure others can see how badly beaten he is so that they know not to try this shit again. For maximum effect he's got to still be alive afterwards though."  
"I…like scolding a…sure. Let's do it," she said with a predatory grin. I felt a pang of sympathy for the guy, I had already let Judas tear into him and set more than a few stinging bugs upon him. I squashed the feeling he deserved what he got and I might have saved his life by making the suggestion.

I went around checking on injuries to make sure no one was dead or critically injured as Bitch went about her business with the manager of the ring. She started by having Brutus crush each of his legs between his jaws as she told him how bad it would be if she had to come back. There was a fair amount of coarse language being used and I noted that Rachel was far and away more articulate than I ever remember her being in my previous life. The man fainted from pain mere moments into the assault. She spited on him in naked disgust and kicked him a few more times in the side before marching off into the back area were the dogs were kept.

I had my bugs running threads of silk up into the rafters when Bitch walked out the back, a dog in her arms and many others following behind her. She looked around taking in the scene; my bugs were working on lifting about a quarter of our victims into position for other members of the swarm to bind against objects. For example one was being affixed about halfway up the wall. Other victims, particularly those who had gone down early enough to be sheathed in a thin cocoon of silk, were simply hung from the rafters. The balance of our prey had simply been bound where they lay.

Rachel looked to me. An ever so slight confused look on her face as she asked, "What are you doing?"  
"Enhancing the effect this will have on whoever finds it. Can I have that mask?" I asked motioning to the dollar store plastic mask she was wearing.  
"Why?"  
"I'm going to put it on him," I explained motioning towards the manager who was being strung up into position over the dogfighting ring. I had my spiders carefully arrange a harness of spider silk that would hold him up to prevent the man's weight from being placed on the arms he was seemingly being hung by. Patches of tightly bound spider silk would serve to keep pressure on some of his more severe injuries, "The mask will show whoever finds it that you were the one who did this as well as turn him into a representation of Hookwolf."  
"It'll piss them off more?"  
"Yeah. It'll basically be a message straight to Hookwolf that you don't appreciate this sort of behavior."  
She pulled her mask off and handed it over. A moment later my bugs hoisted the now masked man up finishing the scene. She grinned at the sight and I took another chance, "Um. You probably should tell the rest of your team about this."  
"Why?"  
"This is probably going sour any relations between the Undersiders and the E88," I said, "They should know the empire might want it out for them all that much more because of this."  
"Kay. Good idea," she replied as she idly showered affection on the dog in her arms by scratching behind its ears. I smiled behind my mask at the sight.

We parted ways almost immediately afterward. Though I simply traveled a block over and made my way to a rooftop before dialing the police on a liberated phone. A few moments later I was transferred to a Sargent Ramirez that was in charge of trying to clean up gang activity in the city. I had spoken with the officer a few times before passing on some information I had gleamed during my recon trips.

"Ramirez."  
"It's Skitter."  
"What do you have for me tonight?"  
"Bitch, that's to say Hellhound, and I just raided a dogfighting ring that was being managed by the E88. It's a smallish warehouse on Baker St; look for a missing door."  
"All right. Odd that you're tag teaming with anyone, much less a known villain, but weirder things have happened. What are you thinking?"  
"I'm thinking if you have someone sitting on the place you'll be able to get some intel on gang members, where they go to report about the scene we left them and so forth. And trust me; they will be passing this pretty high up the ladder."  
"Why?"  
"I strung up the manager of the arena and put Hellhound's mask on him; it makes him look like a crucified Hookwolf."  
"You have some brass ones miss."

**-/ Interlude 6: The Undersiders**

Moira chuckled, "One to the left"  
"These guys suck," Alec responded as he tapped the buttons on his controller. On screen his character executed another enemy player.  
"It's just a matter of getting into the mindset," the young woman responded as her own character's shotgun roared sending an armor-clad enemy over a rail and plummeting to his death.

They had been playing for almost two hours now, even suckered Lisa into playing. After their first game they had been steadily winning. Lisa had turned out to be an excellent sniper which only served to make the enemy team focus on her. This in turn allowed Moira and Alec to ambush players that tried to sneak up on her or flank around players she pinned down. They would have gotten Brian in on the fun but he had head home half an hour before the idea came up.

"Last clip," Lisa announced from where she sat cross legged on the sofa.  
Moira spared a glance to the game's timer and replied, "It should be respawning in half a minute."  
"Should I use the pistol or that rifle that spawns up here?"  
"The pistol, the last update made it more powerful, especially in close quarters."  
"Okay," Lisa took Moira's word for it the girl was a nerd at heart with a plethora of generally useless information stashed away in her mind and a fan of a vast collection of franchises. The first enemy to come up the stairs after Lisa received a face full of high caliber pistol rounds, the second took two before the weapon clicked empty and she mashed the melee button to beat him to death with the grip of her weapon.

Lisa and Moira had bonded some yesterday after the latter's classes ended over a marathon of an Earth Aleph anime. During that the thinker had learned that Moira made her own costume and not just the one she wore as Wraith but before triggering she had often cosplayed as a variety of characters. Moira definitely had the body to pull of some of the characters she had mentioned. It shouldn't have come to that much of a surprise that she was actually rather well known among convention goers and even had an online following.

Lisa smiled as just before a half minute passed the sniper rifle respawned just as Moira predicted. As she resumed sniping from her perch Moira spoke, "I've got to ask. You guys have a huge TV, huge sound system, a massive game library and such, but no headsets?"  
"Lisa won't let me use one," Alec replied as his character knifed another opponent before being blown up by a rocket launcher, "oh and they have rockets now."  
"Knew I forgot something."  
"Alec trash talks if given a mic. Loudly. It's annoying when you're trying to do, well, anything."  
"I'm not that bad," Alec defended.  
"When I took your headset you had been making comments about an opponent being a hermaphrodite."  
Moira laughed, "So do we still have them picked up somewhere?"  
"Yep, but we only have two. We can pick up another tomorrow, kay?"  
"Sounds good."

Just as the match was ending the door to the hideout opened permitting Rachel and two of her dogs, the last Angelica had been drooling on Alec's leg for the past hour. When the girl walked over to the gather she paused as if she had something to say.

"What's up Rach?" Moira asked, "I swear I took Angelica for a walk like I promised, even got Alec to go."  
"Hence why your dog decided my leg was a chew toy," Alec added dryly.  
"That's not it, something happened?" Lisa divined.  
"I hit a dogfighting ring."  
"One of Hookwolf's?" Lisa asked for confirmation.  
"Yeah"  
"Met that bug girl," the hound master supplied.  
Moira quirked a brow at that and asked, "Bug girl?"  
"Skitter, the one that's been waging a one person war against the gangs," Lisa supplied, "and you didn't fight her. She helped you?"  
"Yeah. Was …nice. Told me to warn you guys Hookwolf might be mad."  
"For …leaving a message?"  
"That's what she said."  
"Should we be worried?" Moira asked, "I mean are we going to have to fight him or?"  
"Probably not. Skitter's not the sort to play gangs against one another; least not from what I gathered."  
"She doesn't like people getting hurt. And knows how to command my dogs"  
"You didn't like that," Lisa stated.  
"No," Rachel glanced towards the kitchen, "What's dinner?"  
"We're going to get take out," Moira explained, "I was waiting for you to get back to find out what you wanted."  
"Food."  
"Told you," Alec said with a shit eating grin plastered on his face, "Bitch just cares that it's edible."  
"Lisa?"  
"Sure, let's go."

**-/ Author's Notes:**

So I think I'm just going to do bits of Undersiders or Wards when I've got nothing else in mind for an interlude. I know this interlude was incredibly short but…whatever.

Also I'd like to explain something about writing this chapter. The majority of the meeting with the Dallons was written before I published chapter 5. It was one of those scenes I mentioned writing ahead of time. The rest of this? Was written after I got six thousand words into chapter 7 and realized I needed to put this chapter in first. Opps.

I'm not entirely happy with the combat in the Peerless segment. It could be better, longer, and more …meaty. I just can't really come up with anything to do it. Maybe describing some of the back and forth with Aegis, but I'd be concerned about making him look too um…Worfified. New term, coined here. It sucks all that much more because that event was the whole reason I even wrote this chapter. At this point I'm just getting annoyed when I try to work on it.

_Some random thoughts_:

Gallant's costume is described as being a 'power suit' I assume it provides enhanced strength or something. I recall Tattletale mentioning that whether Gallant builds/maintains the suit himself or not was up for debate and that it was tinker tech. My question is, is it ever described as being armored? Besides its coloration do we know anything about it? TV tropes states his suit is maintained and thus logically likely to have been built by Armsmaster. Where was that mentioned?

The reason Aegis had called Taylor less skilled than Skitter was because Taylor reacts slower and occasionally purposely takes a hit to hide the obvious connections between her personas. The slower reaction time is because she's not tagging her sparing partners with bugs. Aegis is still trying to figure out what to do with his epiphany that the two personas belong to the same person.


	7. Chapter 7: Breath

**-/ Chapter 7: Breath /-**

He screamed like a girl as he rushed out the bug infested building. About two hundred and forty seven thousand ants and cockroaches surged out of the open doorway after him moving along the floor and the walls alike. John Cassidy raced across the street and into the alleyway while hitching his ill-fitting pants up. He got about seven feet into the alley before tripping over a cord of spider silk that had been hefted off the ground just ahead of him by flying bugs. Spiders leapt off the walls landing on his prone form and he struggled to swat the arachnids away. He got to his feet just to trip fall back down finding his shoes covered in spider silk and already being bound together by the orchestrated movements of a few hundred tiny spiders. The cockroaches and ants flowed into the alleyway like an inexorable wave.

"I'd just give up if I was in your position," I intoned the swarm around me creating an inhuman voice by coordinated use of the swarm's individual noises. I sat about six feet above my victim resting on the sheer surface of the wall with my arms crossed over my chest.

The stunt was possible thanks to a fair imitation of Spider-man's wall clinging ability I had built into the latest boots and gloves of my costume. I don't know how the comic book web swinger actually pulls it off, well I knew a few different explanations given over the years in various media, but I used something called electroadhesion. That's essentially electromagnetism at the molecular level if I understood it correctly. I had tried using the various mechanisms actual bugs used to pull the stunt but there were problems pretty much all around. Van der Waals forces, which are responsible for the adhesion, has no off switch so clinging forces had to be high enough to hold the target weight yet not so high that I couldn't pull myself free. Bugs somewhat circumvented the issue by simply having ridiculous high proportional strength and a very specific design of the foot.

Electroadhesion on the other hand created the clinging effect by use of alternating charge electrodes spaced across the contact surface and despite the fact that it needed power to function it was far easier and faster to implement into my costume then my failures with Van der Waals forces had been. The power requirements weren't even that high, I could conceivably wall crawl all day and night for several days on a single watch battery. Not that I'd be caught dead actually wall crawling around. I had tried my hand at it in the lair and I looked… ridiculous. Until I was more limber and dexterous enough to better emulate the web-head's movements I don't think I'll use the capability for more than just perching in some unusual spot like I was now.

Mr. Cassidy yelped and jumped, or rather did some sort of approximation of a jump given he was on the asphalt with his feet already bound. He scrambled as best he could away from me while stuffing his right hand into his coat. Thanks to an earlier swarm attack I already knew he had a thirty two caliber revolver stashed in a shoulder holster. I also knew what he was figuring out now as he fought to pull the weapon free, it was stuck pretty well in the holster thanks to webbing some of my weaver wasps had stuffed into the space.

"Seriously. At this point it's more of a matter of how badly hurt you will be before you stop resisting than if you're going to get away. You're not escaping justice this time. Those children you molested will be avenged."

The gun finally came loose as he screamed a barely decipherable curse at me and fired. He didn't have any problem hitting me; I was after all very close to him. Say what you will about how crappy of a caliber the thirty two is, it still hurts to get hit by it. The shock of the impact flooded my mind with pain and I accidentally disabled my cling pads. When I dropped off the wall in a heap the shot must have looked like a winner.

The crawling tide of my swarm engulfed me and in moments I knew beyond a doubt he'd not been even as fractionally lucky as he likely thought he was. The bullet had skipped off the chitin of my forearm and impacted the area just above my collar bone where I had no chitin enhancing my defense. Still there were about five layers of spider silk in the way so while the impact had hurt it hadn't even had a snowball's chance in hell of penetrating my suit.

Even worse for him when he pulled the trigger a second time the gun jammed. Well more specifically the chamber wasn't able to cycle a fresh bullet into position. Too much web was gumming up the works. The only reason the first round had fired was because he manually cocked the weapon as he drew it. If he had simplify pulled the trigger the gun wouldn't have fired, the trigger would have gotten stuck at about half pull or so when it failed to cycle the chamber like it was now.

"That stung," I growled out as I stood back up right. I could feel the ants and cockroaches falling off me as I rose. I imagined it would look a bit terrifying even without the knowledge that I'd just been shot. When I closed the gap he screamed again; I could hardly blame him.

I lashed out clawing the child molester. My talons shredded his coat and flesh as I relived him of his weapon. I was methodical in my brutality. By the time I moved on from his arm both his elbow and several fingers were bending the wrong way and many tendons had outright been shredded by my claws. Next the talons found his throat and I throttled him has I repeatedly lifted him up before whipping his head back against the pavement. And that didn't even account for the dozens of ant bites or wasp stings being delivered. After about the fourth time his head impacted the asphalt I let him drop.

I wanted to hurt him more. Not because of he shot me, that hardly factored in, but because of what he had done to those children. None of them had even been teenagers. I felt like no matter what I could do to him, what state I'd leave him in it wouldn't be enough punishment for what he did to those kids. I had offered my assistance to the police after hearing about the latest incident and his following evasion of the local PD on the news. I shouldn't have read the transcripts of the interrogations during his previous arrests; or the medical reports of his victims. I had my web spinners start wrapping him a cocoon as I got some distance and forced myself to calm down. About half a minute later I was calm enough to call the police.

"Officer Keller. It's Skitter," I identified myself needlessly. The swarm's voice was a big enough giveaway, "I've captured John Cassidy. We're in an alley on Baker Street, between 1487 and 1489. I…you'll need to send paramedics. I went a little overboard."  
"Thank you Skitter. Care to stay on site until I arrive?"  
"Ye...Yes ma'am," I stuttered as the adrenaline finally started draining away.

The pain came back full force with the ebbing of the adrenaline. My breath hitched and shortened. I forced myself to focus to remember that this wasn't the worse I'd been injured this was in fact relatively nothing. I had been shot before, actually I had been shot several times before, one of which was in this life. And this was nothing compared to being sliced in half or losing an arm. Hell, nothing was comparable to Bakuda's pain inducing grenade. Drawing on those memories did help put the pain in perspective and diminish it.

It was about six minutes before an ambulance arrived. The paramedics looked frightened as they worked on the man. I couldn't really blame them, after all not only was the person responsible for the brutal assault on their patient casually perched on the facade of 1489 Barker, but there were well over a million bugs skittering to and fro. Luckily I had finished recording and splicing the narration of the event to the video my mask had captured of the encounter before they arrived so it wasn't like the had to listen to me detailing exactly what I had done to the …scum, I couldn't call someone like that a man. Shortly after their appearance Officer Keller and her partner, an overweight cop that basically played the donut eating stereotype of cops completely straight, arrived.

"How bad is it?" Keller asked one of medics.  
"He was unconscious when we got here. The injuries are generally worse looking than they are but he won't be using his right arm any time soon."  
The officer nodded and walked over to where I was perched. She gave me an amused expression as she gazed up at me. I was a decent ways up the wall; my knees and hips were at about her chest level. I pulled a cheap thumb drive from the back of my costume and handed it off, "My statement and video of the entire encounter from my perspective."  
"Alright," She said accepting it with a gloved hand before dropping it into an evidence bag her partner had produced, "mind telling me what happened?"  
"He shot me. And I got carried away in my reaction."  
The officers shared a look between themselves that spoke volumes of what the partners through of that before looking back to me. The overweight officer commented, "Sounds perfectly justified as self-defense to me."  
"I know it doesn't look it but my costume's pretty good at protecting me. Outside of a few isolated spots he couldn't hope to seriously injure me with the gun he was packing. That's um, over in the alley still."

A simple motion of the head from Keller and her overweight partner went into the alley to collect the weapon. I helped him find it by forming a few arrows with my swarm. I could hear him chuckle at the sight. I even pointed out where the bullet he had fired ended up.

"Anyway, I didn't need to hurt him so bad to capture him. But I did. I…" I trailed off I wasn't exactly feeling remorse, rather I was worried. I was trying to be a hero and I had let my control slip. I slipped into that eye for an eye mentality and use of disproportionate force that had made me a villain before. I didn't want to slip back into that role. I wanted, maybe needed, to be a hero.  
"Look kid, you might be bulletproof but that doesn't mean shit to the law, as far as it's concerned you could have killed him after that and you wouldn't be guilty of anything but having a temper."  
"But it wasn't because of that. I was angry because of what he did to those kids."  
"Good."  
"Good?" I echoed back confused.  
"Yeah, good. You get angry over what he did, that means you're a good person. You came to us to help catch him to keep him from doing that to anyone's kid again. Yet, as angry as you must have been you still didn't kill him. You even called us to get him medical treatment. That speaks volumes about you. Tells me someone raised you right."  
"I guess," I said unsure. Truthfully I wanted to kill him, wanted to visit upon him every horror that plagued my dream memories. It felt all kinds of wrong that after thinking that I was being told I had done good and was a good person, "I'm not going to argue that I wasn't raised right. But it feels wrong to be praised for hurting someone like that, no matter how justified it could be."  
"Again I'll say it. You are a good kid."

I slipped away shortly after that. Brockton Bay Police Department was actually rather welcoming when it came to local heroes offering their aid. Their own requirement for me when I went to the station to review what evidence they had was simply not to bring an army of bugs in with me. I had done them one better; I brought the local roach infestation with me when I left. I guess that they were so accommodating because of how outnumbered the good guys were. Maybe they wanted to create a rapport with the new hero to make sure I didn't have reason to slide into villainy or to give me something of a support net that would keep me active and alive for longer.

I had gone to the police Friday night to offer my assistance in the hunt for John Cassidy and it had been my focus for all of Saturday and this morning. I had ranged across a fairly large portion of the city during that time. I did feel bad for having asked Sara to cover for me; she sold the fiction to my dad that I was staying over at her place for the weekend. Dad had sounded disappointed that I hadn't asked him first but it seemed he was more than willing to overlook my indiscretion because I was with a friend. Something we both knew I desperately needed. I guess to Dad it looked like Sara was my new Emma, I always seemed to be running off to 'hang out' with her and she was the friendly sort that didn't seem to have a judgmental bone in her body.

* * *

According to my phone it just a little before eleven in the morning that gave me plenty enough time to get to the meeting place for my second encounter with Panacea and Glory Girl. I had been debated on whether or not to take Atlas out and test him in real world conditions when I woke this morning. I had actually spent the night in my lair and had performed the finishing touches on the five hundred pound bug this morning. Ideally I wanted about a week to make sure the last major modification I made was functioning correctly. I was more than a little concerned about it because as far as I knew there was no bug, probably no organism that had the same functionality. That said he was ready to perform in the role of my mount. Well. I also needed to finish making the saddle but that was beside the point.

Why was I hung up on Atlas? Well I'd probably have looked a lot less lame when I walked into an Arby's and ordered my lunch. After all I was still fully garbed in Skitter's regalia. I could have used the drive-thru at least so I wouldn't have disrupted the normal activity in the dine-in section of the joint. One thing I did know by the time I left was what the people in that general area thought of me. Apparently I was a monster, villain, or an anti-hero. I needed to work on my public image. Maybe once I started using at least I could patrol for longer that way people could see me as more of a protector; it wasn't like I hadn't been pounding the beat a little every day or so.

Once I got away from the civilians and the lone paparazzi that happened to be on location at the time I climbed the sheer wall of a nearby building and ate. I had actually considered eating in the restaurant. After all you never saw superheroes or villains just doing something normal. They were either saving the day, spoiling it, or being part of a media circus. No when capes were going to do something normal they almost always did so in their civilian guise or behind closed doors. As such they ended up looking larger than life. I was still trying to figure out how I wanted to present myself to the public. The criminals were easy enough; I wanted to be their worst nightmare. The public not so much. A reason I hadn't eaten in public was because as of yet only a bare few even knew my skin color, and even with my new mask when I had to open it to eat I exposed a good bit of skin.

That sounds saucy.

A flash disrupted my thoughts and I closed the mandibles of mask with a command and turned towards the source. Apparently I hadn't lost the paparazzi after all. He got bonus point for looking up the side of the building I was adhered to. Most people never looked up. Still it was annoying, especially since I couldn't just turn and crawl up the rest of the façade without him snapping pictures of my admittedly horrible crawling technique. Spider-anything I was not.

"Do you mind?" I asked with the swarm, "I'm trying to eat in peace."  
"Just doing my job."  
"Do your job somewhere else. I'm hungry."  
"Never said you had to stop. No one gets shots of capes eating," camera jockey said as he snapped more pictures unknowingly echoing my previous thoughts.

I sighed and wished I could smash his camera. That I knew was probably the worst thing I could do, then I'd have this guy hounding or accusing me of damaging his equipment. Neither was very conductive to building a positive public image. Reluctantly I packed my food into its bag, rolled it up, and stashed it in my utility compartment before dropping down to the ground.

The ten foot or so drop made my legs sting, I ignored it as I spoke, "Okay. Seriously I'm not trying to be rude here or anything, I just want to eat in peace. So what do you want?"  
"Anything I can get. No one really knows anything about you or have good pictures. Right now pictures of you are worth about as much as shots of Dauntless and Glory Girl."  
I let out another sigh, this one audible enough for him to hear, "That's because I don't know how to handle myself in public. Criminals I can deal with easy enough. Punch them in the face. I'm still trying to figure out how I want the public to view me."  
"Sounds rough," he said though his voice didn't really sound all that sympathetic. He had at least lowered his camera.  
"So you want pictures?" I asked.  
"Yep."  
"Go ahead snap a few. I really don't have time to deal with this and eat. I've got an appointment to keep."  
"Alright this will just take a second," he brought his camera up as I pulled my personal swarm in closer to make it dense enough to really stand out. The camera's flash all but blinded me and I was grateful for the polarized anti-glare lens of my mask. As he snapped away he asked, "So this appointment of yours?"  
"Can I go with no comment?"  
"Sure I can deal with that. I'm not a reporter or anything I just take pictures," he replied chuckling as he checked his camera's history to make sure the shots came out alright. I had bugs positioned behind him in order to try to see myself, but whoever designed the small screen never intended for bugs to view it, it was just a bright blur, "Were you trying to get your bugs in the shot with you?"  
"Did it screw up the shots?"  
"No, no. I mean most of them are just blurry shapes, but I think you just upped the price I can sell these at."  
"Good. Do you mind showing me the first shot?" I asked. He nodded and quickly manipulated the controls. He shifted to allow me a view. After asking him to blow it up to full resolution I was sure he hadn't been able to actually see the exposed section of my face; the mandible obscured it. Now sure that my identity was still as well concealed as before, I spoke up, "Alright, you have your photos. Now please, stop following me. At least for now."

He chuckled, nodded, and walked off. I kept track of him with my bugs as I ascended the building again to finish eating in peace. He had given me something to think on though; the public didn't have any idea who Skitter was. Not just who I was under my mask but they didn't know if they should be running from me or giving me a pat on the back. If they were hearing the rumors that were no doubt beginning to circulate of my activities then all they'd know is I'm violent and probably an Antihero. I knew the PRT had a PR department but I needed to build up a reputation without and before chaining myself to them. I needed my own agent or something.

* * *

The site I had chosen to meet with the Dallon sisters the rooftop of an apartment complex that sat on the edge of the Azn Bad Boys territory. This time I had arrived well in advanced of Panacea and Glory Girl, normally this would mean I had ample time to set up some sort of theatric entrance. No, instead I had decided to just simply be here already when they arrived. As such when Glory Girl flew in carrying Panacea they were greeted by the sight of a few million bugs flowing across every surface of the flat roof and myself sitting on the sheer side of the bulkhead housed the access stairs. My swarm made a clearing for them to land as I finished the sketching I had occupied myself with while waiting. More ideas on how to get some of the designs I'd been working on to function properly.

"Hi, Skitter," Amy called out as she walked over to me. Even though most of her was concealed by her costume she looked exceedingly better than she had the last time I saw her.  
"Amy, Victoria," I answered by giving each a nod.  
"When did you get the ability to cling to walls?" Victoria asked as she casually floated closer.  
"Thursday? Friday?" I asked myself, "Not really sure which. It's a function of my costume. Electroadhesion allowing me to act as the proverbial fly on the wall."  
"Neat."  
"It is," I agreed with Glory Girl's assessment.  
"So what's the plan for today?"  
"I've got a notebook full of ideas to show Amy, and I'm tracking more than a few dozen ABB gang members. Also I wanted to run an idea by you."

"Let's start with the idea," Panacea said as she sat down on the bit of ventilation across from me. I had actually chosen the spot specifically because the features would allow us to sit across from one another like this.  
"Well, I mentioned last time that I had modified bugs specifically for making my costume," I stated as I extended my arm out between us. A massive spider crawled down my arm stopping on the palm of my hand, "This is a widow weaver, a black widow that I made able to produce a notably stronger silk several times faster and for longer periods. These are responsible for my body suit."  
"Alright," Amy said as she reached out and touched the top of the arachnid cautiously, "Also beyond the obvious size enhancement you gave it a tougher carapace and modified its' chelicerae, giving it a second set of venom glands?"  
"Right, the second set contains a drastically watered down version of its venom so if I have it bite something I can chose to have it inject whatever poison better fits the situation. On their own they'll almost never use the venom that the widow is known for. I've also made a number of modifications to their behavior instincts. Less territorial, more communal, etc., etc."  
"Interesting, should I ask why?"  
"I had these in the basement of my home for the longest time I wanted them to not kill my dad or something while I was out of range of them."  
"Makes sense. So why are you showing me this?" She asked as another weaver widow unzipped the duffle bag I had sitting under me.

"I was thinking of making spider silk costumes for capes as a way of earning some extra money. And I think I'd have no problem getting customers once it gets out just how touch the material is. It's stronger than Kevlar of similar thickness by a factor of ten," I explained as a line of bugs crawled out of my bag carrying a few inch long and inch wide strip of spider silk to panacea. When they got to her instead of, climbing up her leg or something of that sort, I had the bugs swell upwards bringing the strip up to her waist level, "I want you to take this and hand it off to your mom or whoever. Get it tested to prove that it's as tough as I say."  
"I can do that," Amy said as she took the strip of cloth from the bugs as she eyed the formation wearily. I mentally kicked myself for forgetting that not all people were as comfortable with bugs as I was.  
"Ten times stronger than Kevlar?" Victoria asked the surprise evident in her tone and posture.  
"Yeah. It's based on the silk of Darwin's bark spiders, the strongest known spider silk in the world," I explained before motioning to the damage on my shoulder and stated, "I've been shot a few times since I started heroing here. I can safely say I've proved my armor's durability in real word conditions."  
"That's pretty awesome," the blond bombshell responded.

"About time."  
"What?" Victoria asked surprised by the non-sequencer.  
"I've been scanning the local with my range boosted by more than a few relay bugs. Particularly keeping an eye out for trouble so you'd have something to do besides listen to us talk shop and boring you to death."  
Amy chuckled and Victoria smirked as she asked, "So?"  
"How'd you like to bust up a drug deal?"  
"Point me to it."  
"Done, head north and keep an eye out for arrows. They'll lead you to any crime my swarm finds."  
Glory Girl let out a whoop as she launched herself into the air. Amy shook her head while wearing an amused smile.

I repositioned myself next to Amy opening up my notebook, "So I've got tones of ideas in here."  
"Yeah. To be honest I've been curious to see what you cooked up."  
"Well most of these designs have their obvious flaws. Either I'm missing some key piece of biotech to get the idea off the drawing board, or there's engineering problems to deal with, or, and this is where you can help me, I can't get the parts to work together. Shall we that with the last group?"

One of my ideas came to fruition as soon as she saw it, "What's this one?"  
"A thorn fly. Basically it's a heavy carapaced powerful flying bulk bug; I add it to my swarm to give me a little more punch. I've sent my bugs through old glass windows during some of my raids and while a typical tendril can shatter glass with just the forces they can deliver the process usually kills a significant number of the fliers. Putting thorn flies at the head of a tendril will allow a much larger percentage to make it inside the target to attack."  
"Why haven't you made this one?"  
"I tried a few times. I even used mantis shrimp carapace to try to get around my main problem. Chiefly, if I make the carapace strong enough to survive what I want it to do then it's too heavy for it to fly fast enough to actually perform the actions. Then theirs size concerns, I want the bug to be rather small, not nearly as large as some of my other custom stock so I can carry a sizeable portion."

Amy simply nodded and held out her hand. I had a small cluster of bugs land. She clasped her hands together while looking over the blueprints. My bugs ceased to exist all together for a few moments before I felt my power reestablish connection; of the dozen or so I had given her there were now only three. I felt them with my power; the compounds making up their carapaces didn't exist in any of the bugs I had ever felt with my new power, but beyond that they were exactly what I wanted. I noted that part of the way she had managed to make the thorn flies the size I had wanted was by compacting their organs to such a degree that I would have been worried about the organs not having enough room to function or something. The fairly large fat stores were still present, important given that these bugs were designed for long duration flight; in fact the idea was that they'd never land.

I smiled. Amy might not realize it but she was also inspiring me and providing new tricks for me to use while modifying my swarm. The new carapace compounds would get a thorough testing before I used it for the purpose, but I could see replacing the underlying base plates of my costumes chitin with it. The upper layer I was already thinking of intentionally making it into a sort of ablative armor. If I made all the armor plates a living organism I could use my power to maintain the plating instead of the time consuming and somewhat expensive method I used to make my current platting.

We spent the next two hours discussing everything from how to make a bug that could release an electrical charge and not fry itself in the process to various methods of launching projectiles or sprays. She even helped me with some of the structural engineering problems I had like suggesting ways to arrange the muscle layer I wanted to add to my costume that wouldn't see it snap my body apart like a twig. It was amazing working with someone who was not just giving input on how to make something happen but who seemed to be enjoying working with her power in a different way. What had to be the neatest thing was watching her morph members of my swarm into a proof of concept for an idea. We had come to the conclusion that since my power gave me migraines Amy would handle most of the manipulation with me mainly just watching and inputting suggestions. That's not to say I didn't participate, but what I did was usually rather small refinements.

When Glory Girl landed on the roof she was all smiles; with me guiding her from crime to crime I bet she was giving Vigilant competition for most crime stopped in a single hour or something. She walked over to us, the swarm parting to make a path for her, with a grin on her lips, "Skitter I still can't believe there was an actual cat up a tree. I thought that happened only in comics."  
Amy started laughing in response and I just shrugged, "I saw the cat in the tree while I was waiting for the dealers a few blocks over to make a sell for you to stop."  
She nodded in understanding, both of us had a mind for dramatic entrances and part of that was a case of timing things just right. Amy got herself under control and asked, "Skitter, how can you keep track of all of that at once. You seemed completely engrossed in our stuff."  
"I'm pretty sure it's an aspect of my power. I have pretty much unlimited multitasking capability. I've got close to twenty million individuals in my swarm right now, I can process inputs and commands to and from each bug individually while not even distracting myself from what's going on around my body."  
"That sounds like a pretty awesome thinker power to me. Not 'powerful' but awesome," the healer said making finger quotes as she said the word powerful.

* * *

A half hour of sneaking through the underground or shadowed alleys later I was closing in on my lair. At least I was until Skitter's cell phone vibrated against the small of my back. I accepted the call making a noise with my throat to announce myself instead of actually speaking as either of my personas just in case it was Dad.

"Taylor?" Sara's voice came over the line.  
"Yeah."  
"Do you want to hang out?"  
"I was going to go to the lair and get some work in…probably setting up some terrariums or something. Why, what's up?"  
"Nothing really. I just wanted to hang out and everyone else I know is gearing up to hit the club circuit right now."  
"And you're not really into clubbing so you figured I'd be a good choice?"  
"Yeah. No. I just want to hang out with you."  
"Any idea what we'd do?"  
Sara made one of those cutesy negative sounds in response before elaborating, "Was going to let you take the lead on that. If you'd already let me in on the location I'd say let's set up that stuff you were talking about. But I know the lair's your place and you're not really into sharing it, at least not yet."  
"Yeah. Maybe a movie or something? How about we do a dinner and a movie with Dad."  
"I guess. Yeah, that sounds good. When?"  
"I don't know say," I paused checking the clock on the phone, "Say a six thirty meal and the seven o'clock movie."  
"Sounds good. Suppose I should finish reading my book. I've got a report on it due Tuesday."  
I laughed, if it was one thing I knew about Sara wasn't she wasn't too much into reading assigned material. She'd go through any number of books a friend suggested, but make her read a book for a course and she'd put it off until the last possible moment, "Yep and it'll give me a few hours to work in the lair."

"Hey…I've been meaning to ask," Sara said switching gears.  
"Then ask silly."  
"What's up with Aegis?"  
"He found out about the bullying," I admitted. The hero had been acting more cautious around me since he had shown up with the other Wards at Winslow. Personally it really annoyed me. I liked the way he had treated me before, whether he realized it or not he usually acted more like himself, or rather how he acted in the cape classes. When we spared he held back a bit less, seemed to not worry as much about hurting me. Not to say he hadn't been somewhat careful but he was no more cautious with Taylor than he was with me when I was masked or when he was up against Jamie or Felix. It was like he saw me as something approaching an equal to the other girls. Or at least he had; now he was too busy walking on egg shells. It grated on my nerves.  
"Um. Taylor."  
"Yeah?"  
"I meant with how he treats Skitter. He's been asking questions and he pays way more attention to your cape persona then he used to. I thought you guys had crossed paths in costume or something. Especially with the way you've been going full tilt when sparing with him." Sara said throwing me completely for a loop.

I hadn't noticed that change likely because I was so annoyed at his change in regards to Taylor that when I donned the raiment of Skitter I was more focused on venting my frustrations through violence. I had been so aggressive that last Wednesday I pushed him too far and he lashed out with enough strength to crack one of the mandibles on my mask. It had been a good thing that I had been working on a new mask. Instead of having to replace the mandible I had simply finished the second version of my mask and started wearing that over the weekend.

"What? No. Are you sure? I've been noticing him doing that to me. You know plain old Taylor."  
"He's doing it to both aspects?" There was surprise in the werecat's voice. She mustn't have noticed because Aegis is always cautious in the regular classes. He only really cuts lose any during the cape class and even then he's largely holding back from what I understood.  
"Crap… what if he knows?" I asked. Aegis figuring out I was Skitter wasn't exactly something I had a plan to deal with. It wasn't so much that it was him figuring it out as the fact that someone had pieced together enough to link my two identities despite the amount of work I had put into to obfuscating them. How had he even found out?

Well. If I thought about he'd probably had the most 'clues' to the poised riddle. He knew both personas having meet and talked with them both while at Peerless. There was the obvious connection of Skitter turning over evidence that Taylor had collected to the PRT. I had been careful in muddling the connections between Taylor the bullying victim and Skitter the investigator that anyone looking for links in the evidence would find the opposite. Still, Aegis didn't actually have access to the material itself so he only saw the macro-level connection there. What else? In Peerless there was any number of ways that he could have linked the identities together. My personas' fighting styles weren't that similar. As Taylor I fought using only the generic Kung Fu that Nakamura taught the normals while Skitter mixed Krav Maga and Eagle Claw combat styles to varying degrees. I made an effort as Skitter to speak differently, not just in using the swarm's voice to mask my own but in my word usage. I tried to use different mannerism even.

"Is it such a bad thing?" Sara asked.  
"I don't know," I admitted. He was friendly enough, considering how strong he could be I knew he was excessively restrained, and he wasn't pervy. The one time his hands got anywhere close to touching somewhere you wouldn't in polite company he had been all apologies for a an entire week. But that didn't mean I liked the idea of him knowing who I was.  
"Aren't you planning on joining the Wards eventually?"  
"Yeah. Probably."  
"So what's the problem with a future teammate knowing ahead of time?"  
"I…I've already done a lot of subterfuge to hide my identity. I've lied to their faces. And…"  
"And?"  
"About a third of the Wards know Taylor as the scrawny loser who gets bullied daily. If they link my personas they'll question my motives in regards to Skitter's investigation of Shadow Stalker. They'll see it as petty revenge. And they'll ask themselves if they want someone like that in the Wards," I explained. I also couldn't help but wonder if by obfuscating my identity as Skitter I was damaging the relationships I'd have with the Wards in the future. Would they not trust me because of how much I had lied to hide my identity?  
"I don't think anything you've done would be considered petty, Taylor."  
"Which could be worse," I observed, "I...I need to think this through. Do some planning. Contingencies. That sort of thing. Talk to you later?"  
"Yeah see you around six thirty."

After Sara hung up I dialed home, on the third ring Dad picked up. He sounded distracted when he spoke, "Hebert residence, Danny speaking."  
"Hey Dad."  
"Hay is for horses, kiddo," he replied smoothly.  
I couldn't help but smile at that as I asked, "Anything going on tonight?"  
"No. Not really, just watching the news. Apparently your friend helped capture that child molester that was on the news earlier."  
"Neat," I said trying not to sound like I already knew it had happened, "Listen, Dad Sara and I were thinking to eating out and taking in a movie. Want to come?"  
"I'd...you sure you want me around?"  
"Yes," I said dragging the word out for emphasis, "I wouldn't be asking you if I didn't."  
"Alright. What time are you two thinking of doing this?"  
"We're going to hit the seven o'clock movie so six thirty for the food. I was thinking a Chinese buffet, family restaurant, or something."  
"Sounds good. I let you go so you two can get back to talking about boys or whatever it is you do," Dad said making me laugh. It just went to show how much time I had been spending with Sara that he thought I was in her company be default. I was actually kind of glad; it meant I didn't have to come up with an excuse for where I was or what I was doing. I was still giggling when the phone indicated my dad had hung up.

* * *

My lair was coming along slowly. I had bought an extremely comfortable, far too big for me chair that was the same sort I use to have in my lair when I was running the Boardwalk in my last life. Beyond that and some general cleaning up and boxing things up I really hadn't done much besides infest the place with every conceivable bug in the area. I had plans made out for what to do with each area…generally but there were problems I hadn't expected.

I had to be careful with acquiring items, especially things that would be tip offs for anyone looking. The sort of terrariums I wanted, for example, were fairly expensive and I required a lot of them. If I showed up as Taylor and tried to buy any number with cash uncomfortable questions would be asked and links back to Skitter could be established not that showing up as Skitter wouldn't have its own problems. Buying things online was not without its own difficulties. I couldn't pay for anything myself; Skitter didn't have a legal identity yet so I couldn't get a credit card or open a bank account in her name. And, of course, the reasons why Taylor couldn't do it were pretty much the same as physical purchases. Luckily I had Sensei Nakamura to help me out on this front. I charged my purchases to his credit card and gave him the money. Further my purchases could be delivered to Peerless; from there Gui or Sara would bring them to a secured drop off point and I'd cart them to the base.

There had also been a surprise waiting for me when I started working off the documentation to get the bank of monitors online. I had to rip open a lot of the wall to get at all the cables that had been secreted away and found that they extended into the floor…which turned out to be a good five feet off the actual bottom of the concrete structure. I already had plans for making an absolutely massive hive of bugs down there and replacing the flooring to include a more sectional design that incorporated numerous vents. This way if I ever had to fight here I could literally call a tide of bugs up through the floor to come to my aid.

The other thing I learned regarding the massive amounts of tinker tech in the base was that the tinker, Gadget, had been decades ahead of the technological curve, but that was more than decades ago. Technology marched on since the electronics were installed to the point that a fair portion was actually outdated. Some of the stuff used cables and plugs I hadn't seen since I was five. Clearing out the tinker paraphernalia that littered the lair was going to take a while yet. I was weary of moving anything that I hadn't gone over the documentation for since I knew that there existed a distinct possibility for booby traps. Further outside of just boxing it up and moving it to a room I wasn't using yet I didn't have anywhere else to really put stuff. I toyed with the idea of turning the material over to the Protectorate or Wards given that they actually had tinkers who might be able to make sense of all the mess.

What was coming along nicely was the swarm. I had set up several of the terrariums in anticipation of a few purchases I had made in Sensei Nakramura's name. Others were already housing some of Brockton Bays more rare specimens, like the brown recluses or unmodified black widows. I had several hornet nests, beehives, ant colonies, and similar well on their way to producing a sizeable population. My modified stock, widow weavers and waver wasps, were similarly growing at an exceptional rate.

The pest and undesirable members of the swarm I had brought with me gleefully made themselves feed for my developing swarm as I sat down in my big comfy chair to plot. Correction: plan. Heroes plan, villains plot. I had to figure a way to dissuade Aegis and others from making the connection between Taylor and Skitter. I considered the old having Skitter impersonated trick but I ran into problems there. The only one I trusted enough to do it would be Sara and well, we aren't even close to the same body type. She'd have an easier time disguising herself as Shadow Stalker. I could use a Swarm form, but the PRT already knew I could make them so I'd have to do something more convincing than putting a mass of bugs in front of Aegis and yelping that we weren't the same person. I almost wish I could just stuff a swarm form into my costume.

I'd have to come up with something. I knew that much. The problem was that Aegis knew my various personas better than almost anyone. The only one ahead of him in that regard was Sara. That posed its own problems, acting out of character in regards to the Taylor he knew would only draw attention to my attempts to dissuade his line of thinking. The same went for anything I did as Skitter. God I hate secret identities.

About an hour later I shook myself out of the line of thought. I needed to clear my head of that before I headed home. Being morose around Dad without being able to explain it wouldn't be a good thing considering all he strides I'd been making with keeping us less estranged than we'd been in my previous life. I considered going out and doing something cape related. Follow up on the hours of surveillance for any of the fifteen or so gang building I had found, 'patrol' as Skitter, or even attacking one of the aforementioned buildings. I didn't really have time for any of those, only about forty five minutes before I should head home.

What I did have time for try some bio-manipulation; I did after all have a bunch of ideas for new bugs or costumes. I walked over to my work bench and drew out my note book I'd been making sketches in, paging through I couldn't help but notice how...elaborate or outright difficult some of these designs would be. If it was one thing about Amy and I's brain storming it was that we didn't do things by half measures beyond just the complexity of the biological modifications that would convert a bug into an entirely new creature there were lists of behavioral modifications the subject would undergo. Most of my bugs would actually be fully realized creatures ready to be introduced into the ecosystem while the more…potentially problematic were designed with safeguards. One might be unable to breed with me flipping the metaphorical switch, another could be specialized in its choice of prey, prey that it just happened was another of my bugs, or they needed something else. Safeguards to assuage fears when people started to notice my swarm wasn't utilizing only common insects.

This complexity was also present in my costume designs. I had mentioned before things I wanted to do with the body suit; muscle layers and living carapaces, things like that. But the real complexity came in the variations of my gauntlets, boots, and masks. I had six or so variations of the gauntlets in my notebook and about the same number of pieces of bio tech to work out just to get through the designs already present in my notebook. The envenomed claws and cling pads would become a 'standard but the other parts would differ from gauntlet to gauntlet. The boots and masks were more of a constant evolution like the bodysuit in so far as I'd simply be adding elements with every iteration, or as my current mask attested to replacing parts that hadn't worked out so well.

My current mask featured a number of 'sub eyes' around my goggles like I had in my old Weaver costume, only the sub eye clusters contained a pair of cameras and microphones and a few bioluminescent lamps. The majority of the lamps were actually stand-ins that would be replaced down the line with actual bug eyes and other sensory organs in later versions. All of these used the lenses I had found a while back being sold on the Boardwalk. I was a convinced that the old lady I bought hem form was a tinker of some sort; I had tried to break some of the off colored pieces and had so far had no luck. I even had Atlas, now several tones heavy, try stomping on them; they just deformed with the pressure and popped back to their original state after a few seconds. Not that I was complaining but it was odd just how useful the lenses were for my purposes.

The biggest difference between my new mask and old, however, was that I was returning to a 'standard' mandible jaw guard. The new mask incorporated chitin covered musculature around the area that served to retract the mandibles to still expose my mouth on command so I could eat while masked. Rather hilariously the mandibles had a rather high 'bite force' able to sheer through spider silk when they snap closed. The idea was simply to make it close quickly in case I got attacked while eating or something. I had plans to incorporate a sort of rebreather gas mask combination into the design as an optional piece that fitted between and held securely by the retracted mandibles.

Considering the line of thought that had consumed me for the past hour, however, I flipped through my design pages until I got to the section containing all my modified bug ideas. I did have an idea that I could use to draw off attention from the Skitter/Taylor connection, but I wasn't sure if I could actually pull it off, the past few times I had tried making the most complex part I had either lost control of the resulting creature or it failed to reach my expectations. Time for try seventeen.

* * *

I got home at about six twenty and proceeded to change to something a little more colorful. My grey hoodie and black shirt combo was nice for when I was trying not to be noticed but I didn't want to seem like the glum member of our three man band tonight. At the same time I had the bruise from where I'd been shot to hide, it was close enough to my neck that I worried it'd be visible if I wore a normal shirt. Good thing it was cold enough out that I could wear a turtle neck without a second glance. I ended up layering an orange t-shirt over a relatively thin grey turtle neck. More than enough color.

On my way back downstairs I heard Sara's voice float up to me, "Yep, Watch."  
"Okay that just looks… weird," Dad responded to whatever Sara was doing.  
"Well it's loads better than tripping over my feet in the dark," the werecat responded as I reached the bottom of the stairs, even from the profile view of her I had I could tell she had morphed her eyes into those of a feline. She gave me a warm smile I couldn't help to return.  
"I suppose," Dad said before notice me, "Ready to go, kiddo?"  
"Yep. Where are we eating?"  
"Fridays," Sara announced, "I've been craving it all week. It really doesn't help when the snack machines at school have those awesome potato skins."  
Dad chuckled, "But its Saturday!"  
"Every day's Friday," I replied smoothly reciting my mother's side of a long running inside joke. Mom loved eating out at the restaurant so much that when deciding where to eat she'd always suggest the place. Dad came up with the idea that we could only eat there on Fridays; later that week Mom replaced the calendar in the kitchen with one that had every day of the week labeled as Friday.

The closest Fridays was actually not that busy despite it being a Saturday night so we had a rather quite setting for our dinner. For appetizers Dad and I shared an order of barbeque wings while Sara got an entire Jack Daniels sampler for herself. That was somewhat indicative of our individual meals Dad went for the Jack Daniels ribs while Sara and I ordered New York cheddar and bacon burgers. Sara got two. I wasn't as surprised as Dad was, we had eaten out together before and Sara had told me her appetite was actually adjusted for her full on werecat form, which was a little over six foot tall and weighed in at four hundred and eight pounds.

Despite the amount of food she consumed Sara almost entirely carried the conversation herself. Considering how socially awkward me and Dad were it was probably for the best, "So Professor Andrews's big assignment is what's referred to as the Secret Identity Lottery. Basically you pick a local cape and name two people in class who could possibly be that cape. You then give a list or reasons why each person could be that particular cape and why they couldn't. The assignment is actually meant to discourage identity hunting as there's a massive number of people who could typically fit as any particular cape."  
"That's interesting," Dad said as he worked his ribs over.  
"It seems reckless to me," I stated, "what happens when some like Vigilant whom we know is attending AU takes the class and someone starts comparing his civilian identity to his cape one?"  
"Taylor does have a point. It's not something that should happen though there over forty known capes in the city, the odds of someone picking the right identity matching it up to the person behind the mask would be rather low."  
"At least you don't have to worry about it too much being a rogue with next to no reputation."  
"Yeah, most people don't even know I exist. I like it that way."

"So what's the biggest thing you've done as a cape?" Dad asked.  
"I stopped a convenience store robbery the other night."  
"The other night?"  
"Yeah I like to go for walks at night. I'm nocturnal, ever since I triggered anyway. So I'm out walking and I stop in at the local convenience store to grab a coke. Right after I got out the door this guy produces a gun and starts ordering the clerk around."  
After separating another piece of his ribs he asked "How'd you stop it without them figuring out it was you?"  
"I hoped on the roof went beast," Sara said as she munched on fries.  
"On the roof?" I asked.  
"I didn't want to do that in an alley and I wasn't about to ruin a good pair of clothes," Sara supplied with a roll of the eyes.  
"Wait…what?" Dad started. I couldn't help snicker at the look on his face, I had heard all about how she changed into her werecat form.  
"You know the Hulk character from Earth Aleph."  
"You wouldn't like me when I'm angry?" I quoted to jog my dad's memory.  
"Oh the comic character. Yeah. I watched the last movie," he admitted. I couldn't remember which of the more recent movies were which I just knew that in each movie he seemed to be played by a different guy. How hard was it to find someone who could do tortured wimp scientist right?  
"Yeah well, he and I have the same problem when we change. Not that surprising considering my body shape changes. Besides if I went in there wearing the scraps of the same outfit it'd be the same situation as if I just morphed a few bits and attacked."  
"Seems like the whole hero thing takes a lot more thinking than I normally assume," Dad admitted.  
"Yep, and I'm not even a real hero. I was just playing good samaritan. Besides, the store's like two blocks from my home, imagine what could have happened if I let the punk get away."

Dinner was to say the least good. Good food, good company. That sort of thing. I was happy that I was getting to spend time with both Dad and Sara. Dad and I really only spent time together around meals, the rest of the time I was out the house doing things either at peerless or more directly related to my cape life. With Sara at least I could hang out with her while I was running unmasked recon activities. Sometimes it'd be a jog through the docks, other times we'd sit and chat in a restaurant. Hear now, they had my almost undivided attention. I was still habitually keeping an eye or six thousand on the surroundings, but I was giving them the lion's share of my attention.

We drove a few blocks over to the nearest theater, the Cornell Theater had been open since before my dad was born. It was pretty much a fixture in Brockton Bay. I remember the short time it had been closed during my third grade year when it was expanded and retrofitted with features one would expect in a modern theater. The owner had kept the old façade but now it was something like three times as large as before allowing the theater to offer a rather large collection of movies at any given time. This was good since movie theaters nowadays they tend to not just show movies made here on Earth Bet but also a collection of the year's movies from Earth Aleph. I'm not complaining; Earth Aleph tends to put out some really interesting movies.

For example Tron Legacy, Ironman 2, Twilight: Eclipse, and The Book of Eli were the collection from Aleph right now. The Dilemma, No Strings Attached, Red, and Despicable Me were the arrangement from our movie studios. We ended up watching Ironman 2 because to quote Sara, 'Robert Downing Jr is hot' while Dad wanted to watch stuff blow up that he wouldn't have to fix or 'anything besides Twilight.'

We weren't about to subjugate ourselves to that movie series either. I had read the books; they weren't amazing like the legion of fans would have you think, and the movies from what I had watched didn't even do them justice. Sara had been rather vocal on her thoughts of the series, specifically how it was unhealthy for teens to take someone like Bella Swan as a role model given her reckless nature and near stalker mentality. Her words not mine. I just thought the character needed a hell of a reality check.

I swear there was a tinker in the audience given the comments from somewhere behind us. The funniest of which had to be 'now THAT gives me an idea' followed almost immediately by someone else telling him he wasn't allowed to have ideas. Of course given that only I and Sara seemed to hear them I'm pretty sure they were actually talking rather quietly and our powers were giving us the ability to hear them. I'm pretty sure said tinker was Kid Win. He sounded close enough.

It wouldn't have surprised me either if it was, the movie was practically a tinker's wet dream. Lots of armor suits, high technology, dumbed down jargon, a focus on technology porn, and summer blockbuster spectacle. I bet many tinkers wish they were Tony Stark...or with him. Personally, my favorite part was anything that included Rhodes, especially the scene where Hammer was offering him loadout options. That was gold.

I think I was happier than I'd been in a long while. I had good friends; most of them were capes that didn't know who I really was, but good friends none the less. The meal and the movie had been nice and my relationship with my dad was on the mend. Finally, things were generally going my way. Soon enough I'd be attending Arcadia and the terrible trio would be getting the rewards for their behavior.

I did have something to do before I could settle down for the night. I needed to go back to my lair and check on how my work was developing. I gave Sara meaningful look on the way home receiving a nod in return. A few minutes later Dad's truck pulled in next to Sara's Camaro.

"Hey Dad," I called out drawing his eye, "would it be okay for me to stay at Sara's again tonight?"  
Dad glanced to Sara probably to make sure I wasn't just inviting myself over. Thanks to the bug hiding on her head I could tell she nodded in return without looking at her. He sighed, "Sure, I have an early day tomorrow meeting PRT legal."  
"Thanks Dad."  
"You make sure she stays safe, alright?"  
"Sure, Mr. Herbert."  
"Please call me, Danny," Dad said with me muttering the line just loud enough for Sara could hear.  
She chuckled, "Okay, Danny it is."

A quick trip inside to grab my bag that contained my Skitter costume later Sara and I were pulling out the driveway. When we were at the end of the block Sara asked, "Where am I dropping you off?"  
"Anywhere on the boardwalk would be okay," I told her before asking, "When you get up tomorrow, we could hang out some more?"  
"Sure. Sounds like a plan. Will you have a migraine?"  
"Probably depends on how the latest experiment developed while I was away."  
"Was that Kid Win I was hearing in the theater?"  
I sniggered, "I think so. I think the boy with him was another Ward from how they were talking."  
"The other one was pretty hot," she admitted. I was somehow not surprised that she had actually looked at them.  
"I never turned my eyes on them and even if I did, I doubt it would have been good enough for me to say if the guy you're talking about was hot or not."

**-/ Interlude 7-1: Chris**

"See you tomorrow, Chris," Dean called out as the aforementioned teen hoped out of the car. Chris waved a good bye before the vehicle sped away, likely going over the speed limit by a few miles per hour.

Chris sighed as he turned towards the apartment building that contained his home. He hoped his mother was already asleep. Not because he didn't like her or something, but rather he was just distracted. He had been since Tuesday when Carlos told him about the epiphany he had. Skitter was a second lifer. That scared him.

He climbed the stairs two at a time making the extra effort to help him stay fit, sure he got exercise in other ways at school or as a Ward, but when it came down to it the measure of a tinker was based on the hours they spent at the workshop. As such he had to work in ways to get in as much exercise he could to keep up with those who didn't need to work as much with their power. He had been disappointed when he found out that compared to Dennis the new evolution of his power he gained as a second lifer was lackluster. Sure there was a lot he could do combining Armsmaster's miniaturization technology with own modular tech, but neither were powers that he could just use. He would have loved to have a blaster power, thinker power, or, well, anything.

No use crying over spilled milk.

He keyed the door and slipped into his apartment. It wasn't as big as or well-equipped as the house his family used to live in before he lost his dad but it was what they could afford. What his mom could afford. She wouldn't let him help support her until he was a member of the Protectorate. The woman herself was asleep in the modified lazy boy recliner in front the TV. The news was on. Chris gave her a long look over to make sure she was keeping up with herself, after all he wasn't the only one in the family with ADD and in how disconnected he got at times and it would have been a full time job just raising him, but she had to work full time as well.

"-according to sources inside BBPD, the rapist was appended by the parahuman known only as Skitter," the voice of a news anchorwoman said from the TV as he headed towards his room.  
"Or Weaver," Chris muttered correcting her. That was one of the things that scared him about the idea of Skitter being a second lifer; she had debuted with her villain name, not the one she used as a hero. What did that say about her? Maybe she had just always preferred the name Skitter. Admittedly Dean had been the one who gave her the nom de guerre in the past life. What if Skitter was a second lifer, but originated from another world besides the one he, Dennis, and Piggot shared. If that was the case Skitter might have originally been a hero and was simply taking the mantel up again like he and Dennis were. Or… well, the possibilities were pretty much endless.

If it was one thing that Chris liked about hanging out with the other wards it was they made sure he ate, he had a tendency after all to get so lost in his tinkering that he'd forget about things like that. That in turn meant when he got home after spending time with them he could go straight to the tinkering.

When he walked into his room he was greeted by the sight of his workbench with various bits and bobbles laid out around the half completed boot that would eventually be part of his armor. He sat the gym bag full of parts he had brought from headquarters with him on the work bench and started unloading it. He wanted to sit down and start working on it more right away, in another life he probably would have, instead when he sat down at the bench he turned his attention to the terminal he had mounted next to it so he could reference back to the schematics he had made.

He tapped away at the touch screen. The terminal was tied into the PRT's network as such he found that Armsmaster in his pursuit of always being ready had been working on a 'bug zapper' his latest attempt had been a failure but the elder tinker had uploaded the result to the network since it would be able to act as an anti-theft device for something with a larger power source than his halberd. Dragon had also gone over the schematics for his helmet design; there were over three dozen annotations to it.

He had set up a deal with Dragon shortly after he joined the Wards, he was aware that she was an AI, in return for her help on his projects he'd help her throw off her shackles and deal with Saint. It was a pretty good deal, Chris wasn't the best tinker in the world for programing problems by a long shot but all she needed him to do was find the specific lines in her programing that shackled her since she couldn't actually view her own code. She had another person Prodigy probably that would do the actual work.

He drew on his power and started marking out a few possible modifications to address the issues Dragon had noted about his helmet. He had about twenty for modifications hashed out when the computer beeped indicating he had a new private message in his Parahumans Online inbox. That was curious, not many people could actually get through the filters he had set up to reduce the amount of 'junk mail' to manageable levels. Or rather not many people that didn't have more secure means of contacting him. He froze when he read the by line and subject.

_Kid Win, I'm not 100% positive but I believe I may have come across you tonight while you were in your civilian guise. If you were at the Cornell Theater for a 7 o'clock showing of Ironman 2 you need to add some sort of voice modulator to your costume._

_ - Skitter_

Chris ran a trace on the I.P. Unfortunately it just lead to an internet café on the Boardwalk. Shit. Skitter had identified him apparently through his voice. Was she in the theater with him? He could probably get security footage and credit card transactions of the theater without much hassle but did he want to? She had simply sent him a message informing him of a vulnerability in his disguise. He could feign ignorance, if he didn't reply or add a voice modulator to his current load out she'd likely think he hadn't been at the theater. Yeah he could do that. Besides if he started using a modulator now, others would notice and it's not like there wasn't recordings of Kid Win's voice already out there. He'd be drawing attention to it. He'd put a modulator in the helmet of his armor, that wouldn't be too difficult given it already had a PA system.

He finished scribbling out the seventeen remaining alterations and corrections he had for the helmet and sent the amended schematics off to Dragon. She'd help him settle on which modifications he'd end up using. He tapped the screen a few times and brought up the schematics for his boots. Not many people considered things like boots to be all that important in a suit of powered armor, it was just something you had to make sure could support the weight of whatever you were putting together. Not Chris, oh no. he had all kinds of little gizmos already worked into the boot. Plasma thrusters, micro missile launchers, deployable stabilizer spikes, heavy threaded soles and knee guards, the same soles covered powerful electromagnets, and the inner shin even included a storage space of additional bits and bobbles. Yeah, it was time for fun.

**-/ Interlude 7-2: Dean**

When the gunmetal Mustang pulled into the garage at the Stansfield residence the only thing that was on Deans mind was that he hoped his dad had already gone to sleep. He keyed off the ignition and sat in the muscle car for a few minutes.

1970's Mustang coupe looked badass in his opinion even before Chris had taken to modifying it. It was pretty much impossible to spot the changes the tinker had made unless you popped the hood or knew where to look in the interior. That had been Dean's major request make the changes largely invisible, he could handle modernizing it with things like a thumb print ignition and locks, an MP player, a sweet sound system and similar things; but if it started turning into the batmobile he'd feel like the classic was getting butchered. Especially since it had been a gift from his uncle Mark, rest his soul.

So you had too really look to find the tinker tech. Some of it like the engine and associated parts were made to look and sound like the original even if it was absurdly more efficient and powerful once the limiter was released. Others made use of the modern bits to hide the tinker tech in plain sight. A good example was the radio which while including everything from CD and iPod support was the control console for the teleportation matrix built into the trunk. A few buttons and confirming his identity on the ignition's finger print reader and the contents of the trunk would swap with Dean's Gallant costume or vice a versa.

He signed and got out the car. He might as well find out if there was any music to face, and if there was deal with it head on. Someone was in the kitchen, he could tell just from the rustle and bustle of the person preparing food. Despite Dennis' cracks the Stansfields didn't have a maid or butler or something to clean their messes or make their meals. It was one of the few things that Mom had put her foot down about because cleaning up after one's self helped ground us in reality…or something.

It was Adam. You could sum up Adam as 'underachieving man child' and you'd be mostly right. He was twenty seven and still living at home with mommy and daddy. That said he was doing so because he didn't see a point in moving out, neither of his folks required him to pay rent or utilities or anything and he actually worked from out his room. Digital artists could do that. Adam was also likely the reason why their father came down so hard on Dean. Adam was in no way ever going to measure up to what his father wanted in a son, so that 'responsibility' fell on Deans shoulder.

When Adam noticed him he was greeted with a simple, "Hey man."  
"Hey," Dean responded. He didn't particularly like talking with his brother; he couldn't get a good read on his emotions. If he didn't know any better he'd bet he was a thump of some power.  
"Rough night?"  
"No, I got to spend some time with Chris."  
"The tinker right?"  
"Yeah."  
"Cool, He made that armor yet?" He asked. Adam's real query was when am I going to get too see something I drew in real life. Chris had asked him to help come up with a 'look' for his armor's outer chassis. Dean didn't want to admit it but it was cool looking even on a computer screen.  
"No. you know that's going to take a lot more time right?"  
"I guess."

Adam headed off towards his room a plate of sandwiches in hand. Dean sighed as he watched lanky brother disappear around the corner. With no reason to be in the kitchen any more the empath grabbed a coke and headed off to his own room. As he mounted the stairs he absent mindedly checked his phone. He had put it on silent in the theater and the high priority numbers hadn't made it vibrate so he knew he hadn't missed any action.

Not to say he didn't have messages. Most were from Victoria ten in a row getting steadily more frustrated followed by a message from Amy that simply read 'crisis adverted. Ice cream really does solve everything.' Dean smiled at that. Those were followed a message from Sophia asking for his opinion on which of the three masks that PR had come up with for her would work best. The attached image was some of Adam's work showing three variations of a posed Shadow Stalker. He knew Adam had finished the piece last Tuesday. He picked his favorite and sent the reply to bad she'd never get to wear it. Following that was message from his civilian friends, a question from Chris asking if he left a tool in the car, and Missy's typical good night message.

Once in his room he booted up his computer and laid out both his night clothes and what he'd wear the following day. Tomorrow's attire would be simplistic since he was due to work much of the day and would visit with the others afterward. At six he'd have a hand to hand training session with Armsmaster; he wasn't looking forward to that. He'd been seriously considering joining Carlos in taking classes at the martial arts school. His armor might enhance his strength and durability to brute levels but it didn't mean anything if he couldn't land a blow on his opponent.

He logged to Parahumans Online to review the threads that had updated since he had last checked Friday evening. In another tab he opened his private message inbox and his E-mail account…both e-mail accounts. Most of the team was pretty active in interacting with the fans and forum goers on PO's forums so it wasn't that surprising that he had a number of things to look over. He popped the coke open and smiled; all things considered he had a good life.

**-/ Author Notes:**

It was brought up that one of the reasons why Worm was so good was because of how 'by the skin of their teeth' a lot of the combat was. I agree that the original was better for it. However a lot of the reasons why the battle against normal opponents (i.e. Not Endbringers, Slaughter House Nine, or Scion) were such clutch victories was because Taylor was often out gunned and/or outnumbered, less skilled and experienced than her opponents, or wasn't aware of how a cape opponent's powers worked.

By comparison so far in ToT She's gone mostly up against normals, which was a rare occurrence in Worm, and usually with a great deal of intel on the location and opposition strength. Her cape fights so far have been rather one sided as most of them had been relatively similar in the amount of power they could bring to bear in that battle or she was working alongside someone. I do intend for those by the skin of the teeth fights to occur but it's going to be a bit longer yet.

…In case you're wondering, Sara watches a lot of superhero shows and is well versed with Earth Aleph's Marvel and DC characters. As such her mention of her home being a few blocks from where she stopped the robbery was her referencing spider-man's origin. And yeah, he has a heroic streak in her just waiting to get out.

Oh what's this? Two interludes? Yep two interludes. Honestly I just wanted to flesh out the two Wards a little more and point out that yes that really was them at the movies. I was going to introduce Dean's father and mention how the pressure from the old man was what made Dean trigger. …Instead I introduced his brother. Whoops. Dean's Dad is pretty much Norman Osborn without the Green Goblin persona.

And yes Chris likes to trick out vehicles, unfortunately for him only Dean and Carlos have vehicles to trick out. Chris' mom can't afford one, Dennis' parents don't trust him with one, and Missy is obviously too young. ..Well so is Chris but that's beside the point.

You know, that brings me to something. None of the wards really have their ages directly mentioned. We know that Aegis and Clockblocker would be graduating rather soon thanks to the Wards Interlude. Clockblocker mentions only being leader for the summer after Aegis graduates and then Dean will be the lead Ward. Of course this progression gets shot to hell when Leviathan shows up and Weld taking command after the fact. What's odd is two years later when the S9 resurfaces Clockblocker is still mentioned to be a Ward; in fact I believe he's stated to be the leader of the Wards ENE team. So he's my idea everyone's age and what have you.

_Aegis_: Senior, Turns 18 before graduating from high school in the spring of 2011  
_Clockblocker_: Junior, Turns 18 sometime during the summer. I mentioned that he failed Sophomore English and is retaking the class. Dennis doesn't give much attention to schooling because he's done all of it already.  
_Browbeat_: Junior, 17. Attends Clarendon High. Honestly I think he might end up on a bus. His power set isn't all that neat and doesn't bring anything to the table for the Wards that they don't have already.  
_Gallant_: Sophomore, 16.  
_Kid Win_: Sophomore, 15. A bit of the reverse from Dennis, Chris completes assignments for classes as quickly as he can to get them out the way so he has more time to spend tinkering.  
_Vista_: Turns 14 just before Leviathan is scheduled shows up. In her last semester of middle school.

Really this entire chapter was about character building. I did have a draft where a cape fight broke out just outside the movie theater and had Kid Win, Gallant, Skitter (with Taylor still in the theater with her dad), and even Felix getting in on the action. I ended up scrapping it because I got gallant's powers wrong (thought they were higher powered concussive blasts with an emotional side effect not 'wimpy gut punches') and a number of other bits. Most of all the battle didn't serve any kind of purpose beside 'hey look, a fight!' On the other hand I do now have a description of Felix's werecat form and transformation already written out and ready to go.

So things to look forward to. Next Chapter should have Shadow Stalker finally getting kicked out the Wards and Chapter 9 having Taylor start at Arcadia. Chapter 10 will probably be the end of the 'bully arc' if I even bother mentioning what happens at Winslow after Taylor transfers.

On an unrelated note. What would you folks think of me adding a 'Dev' section down here describing capes and their powers that haven't yet appeared and whose appearances may not even come to pass? I'd of course want input on them but I think it'd be better then say how Vigilant and Wraith have been met with some degree of disapproval. For example I'd want to run by my current versions of DarkStar and Jamie/BlackBolt as they are both high rated capes that haven't appeared yet. ...well Jamie's appeared but she hasn't debuted in costume yet.


End file.
